I can't wreck machines anymore?
by coalface
Summary: I should have guessed that my life seemed to be going to well, but at least I meet some new people. First story, so yeah.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own a bunch of stuff, and I don't own either of these Series. One is owned by Jim Butcher, the other S.M. Stirling.

When the dome of light appeared before my car, there were two main thoughts that went through my head, the first was a prayer that the other passengers in the car would be safe, namely my daughters Maggie and Bonea, and my woolly mammoth, Mouse. The second thought was that I should have known my life was going too well these last few months, not counting the Winter Mantle, dealing with having Bonnie springing from my head, and the hair raising, heart-thumping experience of getting to know Maggie. In fact one of the only things that was not giving me trouble was Mouse, who, it turns out, found it pretty funny to see me tripping over myself when I was trying to talk to my daughters.

And yet, throughout all this, I was still having the best time I have had in years, spending time with friends, family and Murphy. Murphy was out of the hospital now on a pair of crutches, after Nicodemus put her in a few months ago. When Murphy got out of the hospital, the first thing she did was threaten to kick my ass if I ever gave her that many diamonds again in a old sock. Our relationship was going pretty well, with me just trying to be there for her and not overcrowd her, and introducing her to Bonnie. It seems that Murphy and Maggie had met before at Michael's, and got along pretty well with her. I even ended up inviting Murphy to Arcanos night with the Alphas, which she actually seemed to enjoy.

For my time with my daughters it was an exhilarating experience getting to know them and trying to teach Bonnie to act around other people, which was a little difficult due to her nature. Like Bob she was a spirit of intellect, so it was a little bit hard to explain the concepts of good and evil to someone who just did not see the point. One of the ways I tried to work around this was exposing Bonnie to the public more often, so she could see normal interactions between people. I had to get creative with due to the fact that normal interactions won't occur around someone carrying a wooden skull with runes etched into it, so I resorted to making my daughter a new container. Using information from Bonnie, as well as the next best thing to ten million dollars, I was able to construct a new home for my daughter that was least noticeable then a skull. In the end I went with a design that both Bonnie and I agreed on, namely a silver coin with a picture of a face on it, two chips of a diamond for eyes, runes to make it harder than a regular silver coin, and a hole so that it could be hung from a chain like a necklace. Maggie had taken to wearing the necklace to school so that she would always have family with her.

In spending time with Maggie I learned more about her and her life, but it was this that actually led me to my current predicament. I was trying to become more of a part of her life by doing all the things that a father was suppose to do, such as going to parent teacher meetings, meeting her friends, and introducing her to some of my family members which was a fun idea at the time. One such idea I had was to show off a little bit, because who doesn't like to show off to their kids, by introducing her to River Shoulders, one of the forest people, I mean what kid doesn't want to meet Bigfoot. That's how Maggie, Mouse,Bonnie and me wound up in the forest late one Friday night, camping out and eating s'mores, waiting for River Shoulders to arrive. When he did, Maggie jumped up and tried to hide behind me and Mouse. It took a little bit to convince her come out and introduce herself but once she did, she seemed to enjoy talking to him, and enjoying hearing stories from Native American legends .One of my proudest moments as father was when introducing Maggie to River Shoulders, she looked at him and asked if he was Chewbacca.

Leaving the forest the next morning while carrying Maggie piggyback with Mouse walking beside me, I was feeling pretty content with my lot in life, till she turned her head to me.

"Hey dad" Her voice was tired from lack of sleepy.

"Yeah Maggie?" I responded, looking over my shoulder at her.

"This was really great, thank you for doing this"

"You welcome Maggie, anything else?"

"Yeah I am going to sleep now, goodnight"

That got a brief chuckle out of me, and a "goodnight". Heading back to the car I slowed down my walking pace, Maggie snuggled in a little closer against my leather coat, and fell asleep. Looking around for a second and pulling Maggie closer, I saw Mouse giving me a big doggy grin. After reaching the car, the first thing I did was move aside and let Mouse into the back seat of the old car I had bought second hand with the heist money, and then tossed the camping gear and my staff in the back after him. Settling Maggie in the front seat and pulling a blanket around her, I got myself into the front seat and pulled away from the shoulder of the road near the forest and started heading home.

I had only been driving for thirty minutes when the dome of light appeared less than twenty feet in front of my car. With what little time I had I threw up a shield in front of the car, and hit the breaks, waking Maggie with the sudden jolt, who gave a started yelp. I yelled "Hang on" as the car hit the dome and went inside, and my last memory was of the bright burning light.


	2. Chapter 2: Waking up

When I finally came to, I was greeted by the sight of Maggie shaking me and crying, trying to wake me, Bonnie trying to calm Maggie down and explain I was ok, and a sharp pain in my forehead.

"Daddy, please wake up, please" Maggie cried with tears in her eyes, while behind her Mouse was awake and licking the back of my head, and whining.

Shaking my head, which caused a pounding in my temples, I looked over at her and started to try and reassure her.

"It's ok, I'm ok Maggie, don't worry" I said while looking at her, "I was just asleep for a bit, sorry for scaring you. Are you and Bonnie all right?" I asked while reaching back to pet Mouse, calming him down.

"I'm fine daddy" Maggie said, with a few sniffles now and then"I was just really scared, and the light really hurt when it hit me. I been awake for a few minutes, and Bonnie started to help me try and wake you, then you weren't waking up, and then…" Maggie started to work herself back up, and it took me a minute to calm her back down.

"Maggie, it's alright, I'm fine" I said while giving her a hug, as she cried into my shirt. " And Bonnie, sorry for scaring you to, how are you doing?"

"I am fine dad, just worried for you" Bonnie said, as the eyes on the coin started to glow a bright green. " I was worried that you might have more brain damage when you wouldn't wake up."

"Brain damage? What do you mean? I don't have brain damage." I said, a little indignantly.

"Well mom always thought you had to have brain damage, because of all the stuff you get involved with, and the number of times you have been hit in the head." Was the reply with a tone curiosity, which got a small laugh from Maggie, and snort from Mouse.

Closing my eyes for a second, it was all I could do was just sigh and shake my head at the thought of Lash corrupting our kid even after she was gone. "No I'm fine, your mom was just joking, I don't have head damage, Lash just never really understood why I do what I do." Leaning my head down, I asked Maggie softly " Feeling any better?" Looking up at me, it was all she could do to give me a small smile, and hug me tighter.

"Actually dad, I am worried about something" Bonnie said, with a faint hint of worry in her tone, " But I want you to notice and think about it first, before I give you my opinion."

"Ok then" I said, a little puzzled "I'll get on that, but first things first, let's get out of the car, and find out where we are." Looking around and out the windows of the car, I found that we were near the road and the front of the car had hit a tree. Forcing the front door open, I got out and stretched, taking a second to open the back door letting Mouse out, and grabbing my staff. Walking around to the other side of the car, I had to force the door open so that Maggie could get out. After checking to make sure she was ok, I took a bit of time to get the camping supplies out of the car, including a bit of the food to give to Maggie and Mouse, as we headed out to the road, which was on the other side of a small ditch. After all this I finally had a chance to take a breath and get a look around, for all the help I thought it would do. One of the first things I noticed was that it was warm out, and that it looked a lot like spring due to a few trees were still putting out leaves, and the smell of fresh, muddy, soil. At the same time I noticed a highway sign that read 'Corvallis 10 miles' with an arrow pointing ahead, that led off over a small hill. While trying to decide if we should set off towards the town, or if we should wait for someone driving by, I noticed something off about my magic.

All wizards are releasing energy from their body even when not casting spells, it was actually this and the fact that most humans are constant second guessing themselves causing fluctuations in the energy that cause technology to go haywire. Usually the energy leaves the body at a pretty steady rate, but as I stood there, it felt like the energy was being pulled from my body, instead of leaving by itself. "Hey Bonnie, what the.." before I could finish though, it felt like I was hit by a large wave, that almost knocked me on my ass. Looking around quickly, it appeared nothing had changed, except that Mouse was whining, and Maggie was hugging him, burying her face into his fur, while the eyes of Bonnie's medallion where glowing.

"Ok Bonnie, what was that and what is going on with my magic?" I asked, confusion evident in my tone.

"Do you remember what happened on Demonreach, before it almost explode?" She said "The sense of tension, and how it was growing larger?"

"Yeah I remember that, I'm not that old" I said a little indignant "That the ripples of the power of the event spread out before it happened, but I thought that was due to the fact that the outsiders were also also attacking through time as well?"

"That is true, but it's the size of the event in question also has an effect on the ripples produced, a large enough event will cause ripples all by itself" Bonnie explained in a patient tone, "What you just felt was the ripple of one such event, I felt a ripple before you came to and the one we just felt was even larger."

"Oh" I said a little stunned. Sometimes I forgot just how much knowledge my daughter actually had inherited from her mother, until I listened to her explaining some facts in the voice of a 10 year old. "So you mean the event is more powerful than the demonreach explosion, and it's getting closer? Great just great, do you know what is happening to my magic?"

"Yes I do know actually, there's very little I don't know" Bonnie informed me with a smile in her voice, "For some reason in the immediate area there is little natural magic, and your body is trying to restore the natural background levels of magic by pumping out more energy."

"Should I be worried?" I asked " Do you know what is causing this?"

"No, you have no need to worry at this time, the drain is nowhere near enough to hurt you in the short term" Bonnie said calmly, "As for what is causing this, I'm sorry but I don't have enough information right now to answer that, I have a lot of theories but nothing concrete yet."

"It's ok Bonnie, thank you; you helped a lot" I told her after hearing the disappointment in her voice. "Ok kiddos, I have decide on what to do" I said after trying to project more confidence into my voice, "We are then head into town and look for help ok, and Bonnie please no speaking around normals, ok? Don't want to scare them."

With a few halfhearted grumbles and pouting from Bonnie, I picked Maggie up and started to carry her piggyback, with Mouse walking beside me, and we were on our way towards Corvallis.


	3. Chapter 3: Corvallis

The trip into Corvallis would have been just a nice walk during spring, if it weren't for the fact that the waves of energy kept coming periodically with increasing power and less time between each wave, and each one almost knocking me off my feet. This caused what should have been a simple two hours of brisk walking into close to three hours of stops and starts as the waves caused me to stumble and almost trip, while at the same time I tried to sense where the waves were originating from with no real luck. What was worse though was after each wave hit, I started having a feeling that I could best describe as fear and worry, that continued to grow as more and more time passed. The feeling was almost like I was standing on a beach unable to move, as in the distance I could see a wave or a storm approaching, growing larger and larger all the time, and the knowledge that there was nothing you could do in the face of such force and not even running would help, except to set your heels against the oncoming wave and pray that you will come out alive and well the other side. Even Mouse ended up feeling the increasing tension and pressure from all of us, and started to let out a little whine now and then.

In the end we wound up getting a drive the rest of the way into town, after a truck passed by that was heading in to Corvallis. I figured out we were in Oregon through the complicated process of looking at the truck's liscence plate and reading the state while I was loading took a bit of effort to get Mouse into the back of the truck, and my seven foot carved staff got a weird look, but afterwards we were underway to the police so I could report what happened and where the car was. Our driver was an older man named Luther Finney who was coming into town just to get some medicine and then head back home, we started talking about what we did and where we were from. When I mentioned we were from Chicago, and that our car crashed, Luther even offered us a place to stay the night if we needed it. In the end though I turned him down and told him we would be staying in Corvallis for a while, to be close at hand to the police if they needed anything, but I thanked him for offer. Talking to Luther was actually really calming on my mind due to fact that he reminded me of Michael, in that while he was not a warrior of God, he was a good man from what I could tell through talking to him and his interactions with Maggie. When we finally reached the police station Luther dropped us off with a wave goodbye, and I took a second to grab my staff and get Mouse off the back.

It didn't take long to deal with the police, reporting the accident and dealing with the paperwork. While filling out paperwork I used the excuse of being hit in the head to get the year and date, which turned out to be March 17, 1998, which freaked me out a bit because the last date I could remember, it was the middle of summer and a different year entirely, which meant I might have a just broken one of the laws of magic, which I so needed right now. It seems though the police couldn't send anyone out right now to deal with my car, due to the fact that there had been an accident out on the highway; tying up the police's accident tow truck and detectives, they told me that they would be able to help me to in a bit, just not right now, and not to leave town, that they might need to talk to me about the accident again. So in the end my daughters, Mouse and I enjoyed a walk around the university town of Corvallis, taking in the sights and sounds of sunny Oregon. One of my first stops was a local pawn shop to sell one of the diamonds from the heist that I had taken to carry with me incase of any emergency I might encounter. It didn't take long at all before I grew tired of the people staring at me; I guess they were not used to the sight of a man, next-to-best thing on seven feet in height, with multiple scars on his face, wearing a leather duster and a glove on one hand, while also carrying a seven foot tall staff with runes carved onto it, walking down main street. It was not helped by the look of my traveling companions at this time, namely Mouse who came up to my hip and was the close to two hundred and fifty pounds with a large ruff of fur around his neck like a lion, and Maggie who was small for her age was only a little taller than Mouse. We made a strange sight, but there was nothing I could do about it. What was more worrying was the mantle's instincts were treating the stare's as challenges, thus increasing my aggression towards the locals. It took a while to calm, and by the time I was, it was close to five o'clock; Maggie was starting to get a bit hungry by then so it was time for supper and to have a discussion with my daughters.

"Hey Maggie," I asked gently "Where would you like to go for supper?"

Looking up, she gave me an angelic smile "McDonald's."

"Really?" I asked, a bit let down.

"Yup" she said, trying not to laugh.

"Fine" I agreed exasperatedly. It turns out that Maggie loved McDonalds, and never really developed the love for Burger King that I had. My daughter had found a form of joy in denying mine, and she enjoyed bugging me about it. I love my daughter I really do, she reminds me so much of Susan sometimes it hurts, yet when I see the part of her that comes from me, it's all I can do to not rip my hair out. It was very different being on the other side of smart ass, and I had a lot more respect for Ebenezer for putting up with me for so long.

After heading into the closest McDonald's I got food for all of us to eat outside. While Maggie was eating her happy meal, and Mouse was chowing down on his four burgers, I ate my meal slowly and started to question Bonnie who had been observing and taking notes all afternoon.

"So what's the deal, how did we end up in Oregon?" I asked, taking a second to take another bite before continuing, "And do you know what the event is that is causing all of these dang waves?" After an afternoon of being buffeted by larger and larger waves that were happening almost once a minute now, I was pretty tired of them. At one point I had even thrown up a circle to try and escape them, but it had done nothing and even made my sensitivity towards them worse while in it. Right now I was basically used to the physical effects of the waves, the weak knees and all, that it was only the increasing dread and the feeling of the event growing closer that kept me me full of worry, whatever it was I knew it would be bad.

"I don't what is causing the waves, but I do know where they are coming from," Bonnie told me, speaking with real interest in her voice "From what I could tell through various means, the source of the waves appears to be originating from Nantucket Island."

"How did you figure that out?' I wondered if I was stammering for a second, but then I focused back on Bonnie, "What did you do?"

"Short answer is that I used math, magic and a satellite to figure it out where the waves were originating from." She said with a satisfied tone, "From what I can tell a massive amount of energy is building there, and soon it will all be released. As for how I did it, Uncle Bob taught me how to do it."

"Ah ok, did uncle Bob teach you anything else?" I asked, veering off track.

"No he said some about a hammer" Bonnie said in a confused tone, "He never really explained."

I had lived long enough not to mention the visit I had had with Bob after Bonnie was born, explaining to him what would happened if he ever corrupted Bonnie, the little pervert. "Er, yeah i'll explain when you're older." I stammered, "So what about how we got to Oregon?"

"From what I can tell, we are not in Oregon, or at least our world's Oregon." She explained, as if talking about something particularly interesting.

"What do you mean? We're in a different reality?"

"Yes, that is what I am saying."

"Oh,..great." I sighed quietly to myself, "anything I can do to fix that?"

"No, not at this time."

That would be the last of the conversation during dinner. Maggie had be listening in to our conversation, and while she hadn't understood it in its entirety, she understood enough to be scared. When I tried to calm her down though, I found out that she was dealing with the problem pretty well for a nine year old, and I was extremely proud of her. Taking a second to explain what was happening, and that would not be going home for a while, all she did was hug me tight and say "It's going to be ok."

That almost brought tears to my eyes, and as we cleaned up our mess I took the chance to wipe them from my eyes. After cleaning ourselves up, we left the restaurant and be started looking for a place to spend the night, when I felt the largest wave yet approaching. Bonnie yelled "Dad get ready, the event is happening!"

Twisting around, it was all I could do to grab Maggie and Mouse, and pull them close to me as I threw up the strongest shield I could, as a flash of white hot pain flash into my eyes.


	4. Chapter 4: New New World

Over the course of a long and memorable career as both a private detective, a wizard, and for a shorter time as the Winter Knight, I had been been subjected to a large amount of different types of pain. At this point in time I almost considered myself almost as a connoisseur of pain, from the pain of being shot, the pain having one hand almost burnt off, to the pain of Mab deciding to almost freeze all the water in my eye's. The flash of light caused pain that was worst than any of the other pains I had felt up to this time; it felt like someone was driving white-hot knives past my eyes, and for a brief instant all I could see was a light that threatened to burn out my eyes. When the pain ended, I was left panting like I had just ran a marathon, and the memory of the pain and the light. Looking down at Maggie and Mouse to see if they were alright, I saw Mouse whining and rolling on the ground, as Maggie clutched her eye's shut and was crying from the pain.

Acting quickly, I scoped Maggie up and hugged her as I told her everything would be ok, while Mouse was by this point up, and leaning against me for support. "Bonnie, what was that?" I cried out with fear evident in my voice, not caring who was watching as Maggie hugged me even tighter. Before she could respond though, I was hit by a wave of pure psychic force, filled full of fear, terror, and despair, that continued to grow in intensity. I am not the most sensitive wizard around when it comes to mental magics, my strengths leaned more towards directing energy around through blast of fire and tracking, but I had had to beef up on my mental skills to teach my apprentice Molly, who was far more sensitive than me when it come to emotional emissions of others. From what I could tell this was not an attack, just the psychic overflow of thousands of human minds feeling the same thing all at once, spilling out into the physical plane. As fast as I could I pulled a piece of chalk from my pocket to draw a circle around us, and then forced energy into to form a shield to protect us from the wave. Even as it formed though I could feel the pressure mounting around the shield. Taking a second to breath to, I finally noticed what was going on outside of my own little world, and I wished I hadn't. As far I could see throughout Corvallis nothing was working, not the lights, not the cars, nothing, and as I watched, a plane fell from the sky, heading towards the downtown area, where it hit with a sound that rattled my bones and felt through my feet. Looking around even more, I saw cars not being able to stop and crashing into various things such as fire hydrants and telephone poles, resulting in some wires hitting the spreading water that had slowed down to a trickle. Expecting to see sparks, there was nothing as they connected, and I watched dumbfounded as someone ran through the water. "Ok Bonnie, what the hell is going on?" I screamed, as the world around me seemed to be falling apart.

"I… I don't know, " Bonnie stammered out, sounding like a scared ten year old girl. "I don't know what's going on."

"W-ww-what?" Bonnie's admission was enough to smack me back to myself, along with a fresh helping of fear. Bonnie was powerful, she had all the knowledge of a mortal wizard, which did not amount to much considering that she also had inherited all the knowledge of Lash, the shadow of a fallen angel who had lived since the dawn of time. If she never knew what was going on, that meant that Lash had never encountered it before either, which drove my panic up a bit more.

"I don't know, but what I do know is what part of the flash of light was," she said, after composing herself. "Can't you feel it? Whatever happened also fixed this world's magic, and yet that should have nothing to do with what I'm seeing."

Reaching out with my senses I could tell she was right, not that I had really doubted her. From what I could tell the level of magic was now the same as it had been in my old world, and my body felt better not having extra spill out of energy. "So is there anything I can do?" I asked as I watched the fires continue to grow, I fought the urge to run off and help search for survivors and I had to remind myself I had my daughter's to take care of.

"At this time no dad," Bonnie said, sounding resigned, "All you can do now is be yourself, and go help people."

"I can't, I have to take care of you and Maggie," I tried to explain but as I did, I felt a small hand reach up and tug on my coat. Looking down Maggie's face filled my vision, with streaks from tears running through a coating of dust on her face, but her eye's were dry and her mouth was set in a stubborn line that reminded me of Susan for an instant.

"No." She said with more conviction in her voice then I hear from most adults, let alone a nine year old. "No you go help them, they need help. I'll be fine I have Mouse with me, those people don't, they need you."

"Really?" From what I could tell Maggie was scared, and yet she wanted me to leave her to go and help a bunch of strangers, instead of staying here and protecting her. I was so proud her I got on my knees to give her a hug, while I fought to prevent myself from crying.

"Yes, now go and save them like you saved me," Maggie told me, trying to sound brave. "Me and Mouse will go and hide while you do."

"Ok," I said, while standing up. "Ok I'll go, Mouse you keep her safe alright, and Bonnie, Maggie? Take care of you sister, ok?."

Mouse let out huff as he shook his head, butting it against me, while Maggie nodded, and Bonnie let out a nervous "Ok."

"You'll be fine Bonnie, ok" I said calming her down a bit. "I will be back in a bit, no matter where you hid, I'll find you." Reaching down for a final hug, I took a few strands of hair from Maggie and Mouse to find them in case they moved. Breaking the circle let the psychic force hit me, which had grown even stronger over time, which I endured to help Maggie hide in a nearby alley. When she was well hidden, I set off at a run working up to a sprint as I drew upon the Winter Mantle to increase my speed even more, towards downtown where the crashed plane was. When I reached the site of the crash, another group had just arrived and people were directed around by a red headed woman who seemed to know what she was doing as she guided people in what to do.

As I approached she was finishing directing a young man to head to the hospital to get any help they could provide, and as she turned I spoke up, "What can I do to help here?"

She gave a small jump and looked a little startled, it's not everyday a man close to seven feet tall appears from the darkness and asks if you needed help. With a small shake of her head, she asked "Do you have any medical training?"

She had a nice sounding voice with a hint of an Irish accent as she spoke, which I noticed before answering. "No not any formal training, is the anything else you needed help with?" I asked as I looked around at the chaos that we were standing in, as people ran around looking for anyone trapped or that needed help.

"No, nothing with first aid right now, but if you could help look for anyone, that would do wonders."

"Sure, I'll get right on it." I said as I turned around and started to jog towards the rubble and flames.

"Goddess bless you." She said when I was almost gone.

"You too." I called back before I was out of range, and started to get to work.


	5. Chapter 5: Getting to work

As I walked away from the first aid station the woman was setting, I started to look around for who needed the most help first. There were people being helped from crashed vehicles and buildings that had been damaged when the plane had came down by some volunteers, and a few volunteers were guiding some people who could walk towards the first aid station to get checked over, and then moved out of the way and set against the wall if they were to hurt to help. I found who to help first when I noticed a few people were trying to force open the door of a crashed car that had hit a light post without much luck to help the people trapped inside.

"Hey step back for a second, ok?" I said as I came behind them, taking a second to pull my hand back into my leather coat. Getting a few nods as people looked at me, I looked inside the car to see how the person was doing, who seemed to be slumped against the air bag. Making sure to exert only enough force, I broke open the window with my coat covered hand, with my coat being enchanted to be resistant to piercing and cutting damage I was not worried about being cut by the window, and with the strength the mantle gave me even when not called upon, it was easy to break the glass. Taking a second to clear any of the remaining glass from the window still, I reached out and took a grip on the now open window, braced my foot against the car and forced open the door with a grunt. Moving back I received a muttered thanks and a few awed looks from the other helpers, as they stepped up to help the wounded man out of car and towards the first aid station.

"Come on." I said to the rest of the volunteers, "We got more work to do, let's go."

Moving off we all quickly separated to help anyone that needed it, and it did not take long for me to discover where my help was needed next. Jogging to a new car I repeated my performance of breaking the glass and forcing open the door, and moving aside so someone else could help clear the wounded from the vehicles. I soon fell into the job of helping to get to any of the wounded that were hard to get to, through breaking into a vehicle, or lifting pieces of rubble that were too large for other people to budge; I got a few stares when I did that, but I didn't care, I had grown used to such stares long time ago. A few times I helped carry back larger people either with help from another person or carrying them back fireman style, the few times I did I noticed that the first aid station was running as smooth as it could, having received more supplies,the red-headed woman helping to stitch people up and giving other first aid, and directing others in what to do and where to put the wounded. I was glad to see that my first impression of her was holding up, that of someone skilled enough to help and able to handle pressure, because otherwise the situation would have devolved even more if someone incompetent was in charge. I had been working for around an hour, the whole time the fire growing closer and hotter, when I noticed a group of firefighters had arrived with two carrying a stretcher between them, while the leader of them and a cop were talking to the red-haired woman about moving people away from the fire, which had grown closer as we worked. As I watched, the woman began to direct people to carry the heavily wounded to another area on improvised stretchers made from the top of mattresses, as the wounded that could walk were helped along by others towards another help station. Before I could join in the effort, I heard the sound of a pair of feet running at me, turning around I was hit in the chest by a dark-haired missile. Looking up at me with a wide smile, Maggie hugged me and said, with joy in her voice,"I'm so proud of you dad."

"Maggie, what are you doing here?" I asked, shaking my head, "I thought I told you to stay put."

"You did, but I got scared and I wanted to see you." She said, letting me go and taking a step back, "Mouse led me here a bit ago. When we got here you were working and I didn't to bug you. So I sat back there and watched you work, you're really strong."

That got a brief chuckle out of me as I looked at Mouse, "Really boy, I thought you were smarter than that, but thanks for taking care of her." That got a huff out of Mouse, before I continue to Maggie, "Thank you Maggie, and I'm glad you're safe."

"You're not mad?"

"No, not mad, I was just worried about you. What would have happened if you had gotten lost or hurt?" I asked with concern in my voice.

"I was fine, Mouse was with me." She said, there was no trace of tension in her voice, coming from her complete faith in Mouse, "And I wanted to see you work."

All I could do was nod, I mean how are you suppose to respond to something like that, when I felt someone tugging on my coat. Looking around I saw a young girl pulling on my coat and pointing behind her. Looking at what she was pointing at, I cursed to myself when I saw a group of what looked like six gangbangers had surrounded the red-haired woman, a cop, and a man I noticed who had been standing near the woman all night, who had put their backs up against a car. Turning to look at the girl, all I asked was "Can my daughter stay with you?"

After only getting a nod in reply, I turned to Maggie. "Maggie stay with her and Mouse, ok?" Before she could respond though, I interrupted her, "No listen, this is dangerous, stay here with her." I finished, pointing at the girl. Taking a moment to pick up my staff that I had dropped when Maggie tackled me, I broke into a run and got over to the circle of gangbangers before they noticed me. One of the gangbanngers was already down with a wound to their head, while the rest were tightening the circle around the woman's group, I took a moment to pick a target and brought my staff down with both hands onto one of their legs. My staff is several feet of carved oak with a few hardening enchantments on it, the leg of the gangbanger was just a leg, one of the two broke. As the man fell down with a scream, there was a moment of silence as both groups registered what had happened and I spoke up to fill it as I brought my staff in front of me, "First warning, leave, now." That didn't get the reaction I wanted though, as the gang broke into snickers.

"Really now, that's the best you can do man?" One of the members said as his friends advanced on the trapped group. The trapped group were doing pretty well for themselves though, as I watched one of the men drove of the largest gangbanger, who was almost my height but wider, with a punch in the gut with the head of the axe he was holding and almost taking off the man's arm if he hadn't jumped back, and the woman fending off one of them with the shaft of an axe. The cop though was hurt though, from where one with a knife had cut his arm, and the wound was slowing him down, and the only reason he wasn't more hurt was the gangbanger was backing up, along with his big friend. As the two groups separated for a second to catch their breath from the fighting and the fire that was closing in, I found myself next to the red-haired woman. The group of gangbangers continued to back up and duck down a nearby alley though as we watched, when it was just the large one, the one moaning on the ground clutching his broken leg, and the smaller asian one with serious blue eye's called out as he reached the alley.

"Yo bitch." He called out as he pointed his middle finger at the woman beside me as she stiffened, "Chico there was a friend of mine. I see you again, you and me are going to get to know each other really well. My name is Eddie Liu-remember that!" He looked over her shoulders at the rest of us, before he turned and joined his friends running down the alley. For a second I was worried for the woman beside me, because I recognized Eddie's type, as a bully and someone who enjoyed power over people, but what made him worst are the qualities I saw in him, namely in that he was smart, not afraid to retreat if he needed to, and worst of all was the fact he wasn't a coward. No matter what some people say, all bullies aren't cowards, and the ones that aren't are the worst, because they won't back down even if you hit back. But as I turned to her, I saw that she looked scared and worn out from the relief aid she had been leading and the fight, and yet she also looked determined to keep going for as long as she could, and I knew she would be alright. As I was about to speak to her there was a bark of a large dog, and I looked up to see Mouse, Maggie and the your girl standing at the other end of the street, away from the fire. Noticing the fire had grown even closer, the red-haired woman let out a yell to draw our attention back to her.

"Hey!" She yelled, as we looked at her, "We need to get out of here now, the fire is getting to close, and someone needs to carry him, I am not leaving him here, his friend's aren't coming back." She pointed towards the gangbanger, who was on the ground no longer screaming but instead was crying quietly to himself. Since I had help caused it I stepped forward and said, "I'll do it."

"Ok, Tony are you ok to help too?" She asked the cop.

"I'm fine, I can do this." Tony replied, sounding a little tired.

She gave him a once over before continuing,"You should carry him over your shoulders." She explained, as we picked up the gangbanger, "Dennis and I will look for anyone left, and watch over the kids, if that okay with you?" She asked me.

"Yeah, that's fine, her name is Maggie." I told her as we set off. I called over to Maggie, "Maggie, I want you to stick with her, ok".Before we left, the man she had called Dennis picked a revolver up from the ground and pointed it at a wall. Before I could do anything, he squeezed the trigger five time, making a click sound instead of a bang and five new holes in the wall. Letting out a puzzled sound, he tossed the gun on the ground and started leading us away, while in front of us Maggie, Mouse, and the young girl helped look for anyone else in the fire's way.

"So what was that about?" I asked the cop, as we hobbled down the street.

"You don't know?" He answered back in a curious tone.

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking, would I?"

"Good point, he was testing to see if the gun was working."

"Why do that?"

"Because nothing is working now, after the flash."

"What do you mean?" I asked, starting to get a bad feeling that was telling me to get out of town.

"I mean, nothing is working. Not cars, not lights, not even guns are working now."

"How did you figure that out?"

"I tried to fire a warning shot earlier, but my gun never worked. I thought it was just the bullet, so I ejected the round and tried again. I tried three times, and each time the gun just would not fire." He explained as we worked our way around a few crashed cars and the gangbanger whimpered. Continuing after a second, Tony kept explain "Earlier I was talking to some firefighters, and they told me they had been trying to stop the fire with fire breaks, because the hoses aren't working, there is no pressure behind the water. Anyhow, they were trying to create some fire breaks by destroying some building with dynamite when it turns out they couldn't, apparently even the dynamite wasn't working, just sitting there and sizzling, after a while they gave up on and came to help move people."

That scared me more than I could let show, and also increased the feeling I was getting in my gut to run and get out of town. Magic is powerful, and it can have multiple effects on the mortal world. It can be used to effect electronics, and that's what I thought had happened when the light had flashed, a wave of magic that destroyed all the electronics. But if explosives weren't working, something else was happening, and I never knew what it was. "Oh crap." I said quietly, as the red haired woman was talking to Maggie, "I got a feeling this is going to bad, you?"

"Yeah" Tony said, also speaking quietly so as not to scare people, "I think it will be, I suggest finding a safe place to hunker down as this blows over."

All I could do was nod my head in agreement.


	6. Chapter 6: What Now?

After dropping the gangbanger off at the first aid station that was set up on the college campus, Tony went on his way to help out, but not before telling us to clear out and go home if it was far enough away from the fire, or to stay near the campus. Locating Maggie, I saw she was over talking to the red-haired woman with Mouse sitting nearby. Walking up I could see Maggie was close to falling asleep, and she was enjoying talking to the woman, who was smiling at her. The young girl was standing near the woman, and now that I had a sec to think and they were standing next to each other, I could see certain similarities between them.

"Hey." I called out as I approached the group. As they turned to look at me I continued, "Thanks for looking after Maggie, I know she can be a bit of a handful sometimes." That got me a glare from Maggie that turned into a yawn, and a chuckle from the other two adults, and a smile from the girl.

"She was fine." The woman said with a smile, "She was curious and entertaining, which so far tonight, we needed. Thank you for helping us tonight by the way, I'm Juniper Mackenzie, and this is my daughter, Eilir." She finished, introducing the young girl. Now that I had a chance to really pay attention, I realized she had a slight Scottish accent that suited her.

"You're welcome for tonight, and you should thank Eilir too." I said, explaining what had happened, "She pointed out that you needed some help. Thank you for that by the way, Eilir." I said,turning my head to look at her. All that got me was a smile and nod. "Is something wrong?" I asked her.

"No, nothing is wrong." Juniper explained with as smile, "She was just thankful you turned your head, so she could read your lips."

"Did something happen?" I asked, concern in my voice, "Was she hurt?"

"No, she is fine." Juniper said, shaking her head, "Eilir was born deaf, so she learned how to read lips and sign language to communicate."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thank you, but don't be." She explained, "I love my daughter for who she is, and I wouldn't change a thing about her."

"Ah." I said, before shaking myself, "Sorry where's my manners, names Harry Dresden, that is my daughter Margaret Dresden, and my wooly mammoth, Mouse." This got a laugh from Juniper and Dennis, a wave from Maggie and a woof and a doggy grin from Mouse, as I stepped forward to give a handshake.

"Dennis Martin." The man said as I shooked his hand. He was a big man with a firm grip, but also a fair sized beer gut on him. "Thanks for the help."

"Your welcome." I said, before turning to Juniper and offering my hand. As we shook our hands it was all I could do not give a yelp of pain and drop to the ground. When two or more auras of wizards interact through skin contact there is a jolt of energy like static electricity, you are able to tell if someone is a practitioner of magic through this contact. The strength of the shock you receive is based around how strong your fellow practitioner is, with small talents giving off a small tingle, where as a wizard of white council level is enough to actually hurt a bit. I have been told that when I shake hands it's like someone had licked a battery, when I shook Ebenezer's hand for the first time, I felt like I had touched a low power electric fence. When I shook Junipers hand, it felt like I had just been struck by lightning, locking up my muscles for a second as she let small yelp from the static shock she had gotten. Shaking my hand to get the sting out, I turned my attention back to the others, where Maggie was sitting on the ground, leaning against Mouse, almost asleep, while Dennis and Eilir talked to each other in what I now recognized as sign language.

"Sorry about that." I said, as I focused back on Juniper, and asked "So what's your plan now? I mean It doesn't look like they need more help around here." Which was true, as this first aid station had been set up by nurses and doctors from the hospital, who seemed to have everything in hand.

"Head back to the Hopping Toad, Dennis's bar." Juniper said, letting out a sigh, "Probably decide what to do from there. You?"

"Grab some supplies, and get out of town." I said, while I looked up at the night sky that wasn't covered with smoke. "I got a bad feeling this won't be over anytime soon, my car crashed few miles outside of town this morning and it has my camping gear in it. That's actually why I was in town today."

"Mother-of-All, I hope not." She exclaimed, and made a sign with her fingers and pushed it away from her body, as if to ward off evil. "So how did you get into town if you car crashed a few miles out, the police give you a drive?"

"Close, but no." I explained shaking my head, "I started walking, and then the rest of the way I got a drive from a farmer named Luther Finney, who was coming into town to get some medicine."

"Oh, you meet Luther?" She said, sounding surprised, "I know him, his home is down that road aways on foot. He's a good man."

"Yeah he is." I told her, "He actually offered me a place to stay if I needed it tonight, I might see if he minds me camping out on lawn."

"He won't mind." She said, "Good luck ok, do you need his address?"

"Yeah that would probably help." I said nodding my head.

After explaining how to get to Luther's from where we were right now, which turned out to be a few miles down the road from where my car had crashed; we started going our separate ways, with Junipers crowd going towards Dennis bar, while I picked up Maggie who was almost asleep and started to look for supplies. Before they left though Dennis asked me a question.

"Hey Dresden, I've been wondering something."

"Yeah Martin?"

"Why have you been carrying that staff all night?"

"Oh that." I had been wondering when someone would ask me that, "It's because I'm a wizard" I said wiggling my fingers at them. Martin turned away with a chuckle, while Juniper and Eilir gave me a strange look before turning around. With the others gone, Bonnie finally had a chance to speak up.

"Hey dad?" Bonnie had a little fear in her voice. "Juniper is powerful, like really, really, powerful. Way more powerful than you, than grampa."

"Yeah sweetie, I know." I said, sighing. "I get no respect, even from my kids." Mouse leaned against me at those words, and gave me a doggy grin.

"Mom had the memories of meeting Merlin once, the actually one I mean, and it felt like that. This magic though was untamed, there was no control."

"Great." I groaned out, as I rubbed my face with one hand, the other was holding Maggie's hand. "Just what I need, another apprentice. But this one even more powerful than me." Letting someone this powerful go without training would be a recipe for disaster. It would be all too easy to fall into the warlock's mindset with the way the world is right now.

There was nothing I could do at this time though, so I set out to do some casual B and E.

* * *

Review Answers

xbox432- You would think so, wouldn't you? As for the water pressure, water mains require pumps to keep the pressure up, with no electricity there's nothing keeping the pumps going.

TwistedWizardLizard- Thank you, it's my first time really writing anything really, it's just an idea that has been bouncing around my head for awhile.


	7. Chapter 7: Walk to the Finney's

In the end, I was in Corvallis for over another hour, looking for supplies and anything I might need for the walk, and for an extended period of time away from civilization. One of my first stops was a outdoor supply shop called Big Jim's that I had located by asking around the first aid station for information about the town. It was a shop that had been made with extended time in the outdoors in mind, from hunting, camping, and hiking, so that most of their products were well made, made to last, and expensive. I fixed the last problem by heading around to the back of the building it was located in, the front being locked and covered in a security gate, and found the back door into the store. Taking a second to clear my mind I focused on the hinges of the door. Pointing at the top hinge with my staff,I imagined what I wanted, and with a muttered "arctis" I chilled the metal as much as I could. Taking a second to focus again, I shattered the hinge with a quite "forzare" that erupted as a plane of force parallel to door, hitting the hinge right where it connected to the door. Placing my hands on either side of the door, I pulled the steel door out of its frame and leaned it on the wall. Looking over at Maggie, she was staring at me with wide eyes and a big smile.

"Hey dad, can you teach me how to do that?" She asked me, "That was really cool."

Before I could answer, Bonnie spoke up "I can teach you, if you wanted me to Maggie. It might take some time, cause your magic hasn't come out yet, but I know some workarounds."

"Bonnie, maybe not yet." I told my spirit of intellect daughter, before continuing to Maggie. "I'll teach you when you're older, ok Maggie?"

"Fine." Maggie said with a pout.

It took me second to recognize the rest of what Bonnie had said. "Bonnie, what do you mean Maggie's magic hasn't come out yet? You mean she has magic?"

"Yes she does." Bonnie said, before explaining. "Her magic just hasn't matured yet to be of any use."

That froze me for a second, I mean I had always kinda wanted Maggie to have magic, so I could pass on all I had learned, and so she could experience the same joy I felt when I used it. I would have been happy even if she hadn't inherited magic, but now I had learned she had, I didn't know how to respond. "Thank you Bonnie." I said as stepped into the store, deciding to deal with it later.

"You're welcome, dad."

Inside the store I started to get to work looking for supplies but first taking a second to pull my pendent from around my neck and push magic through it, so that it would start to glow with a pale blue light. Taking a look around the store, I decided to grab a bag to help carry everything in. Grabbing the largest duffle bag I could find, Maggie and I started to walk around the store looking for anything that might be useful, and tossing them in the bag. Stopping by the clothing section, I looked through the clothes for anything that would either Maggie or me. The only things I could find that fit me were a few wool hats, some packages of underwear, and some socks; for Maggie I was able to find much the same, as well as a few oversized sweaters. Pulling one over her head, and tossing the rest into the bag. Moving on to the next area I located various outdoor tools, finding a hatchet and a foldable saw I tossed them as well. Looking over the small selection of books they had on woodcraft, I found a book on the various things that were edible by humans. Finishing up I grabbed a flint fire starter, as well as grabbing a few boxes of matches and lighters, breaking open one of the boxes of matches to make sure they worked. Before leaving I grabbed a few protein bars, and then guided Maggie and Mouse out of the building. Pausing a second, I picked the door up and shimmied it back into its frame.

"Dad?" Maggie asked me, confusion in her tone, "We just stole that stuff, right?"

"Yeah honey, we did." I told her, wondering when she would ask. Maggie had been raised to be a good person by her foster parents, and when Michael and Charity had taken her in they had continued teaching her values. This act was causing her some stress I could tell, as I tried to work out a way to explain what I meant.

"Why?"

"Because Maggie, sometimes people have to do bad things for good reasons, and good things for bad reasons."

"How do you know when it's one of those times?"

"You don't really, you have to decide if the action is worth it, and if you can live with yourself afterwards."

"Oh." Maggie said, falling silent, deep in thought. There was nothing else I could really say on the matter, so I picked her and the bag up, and continued on our way to the next store on my list. This store was a small grocery store, that had been open when the power had gone out, now appeared to be deserted. Getting in was easy, and I located what I wanted quickly. Grabbing as much non perishable food as I could find such as peanut butter, granola bars, spices, and soup; I shoved them into my bag, which was starting to get full. Maggie wanted some chocolate as well, so I grab a case of chocolate bars, some hot chocolate mix, and some tea and instant coffee for myself. Leaving the store, I found the last place I wanted, a pharmacy, nearby. Going around to the back, I repeated my trick from the first store and I was in easily enough. My bag was getting close to bursting so I grabbed the very basics, namely a few bottles of ibuprofen, the basics needed for first aid, and some bottles of Iodine. The bag was close to sixty pounds by now, but one of the main advantages of the winter mantle was the increased strength, so I figured I might as well use it for something that mattered. Picking the bag up, I arranged it so that it leaned against my lower back, I bent and picked up Maggie. Putting her in the piggyback position, I checked to make sure she was comfortable, "You ok back there Maggie?"

"Yeah I'm fine." She said with a yawn, pulling herself closer to my back to get comfortable, "Now suh, I'm trying to sleep."

That brought a smile onto my face as I said "Ok, goodnight Maggie."

"NIght dad."

Setting off into a fast jog, with Mouse running along side, I was soon out of town, on the road I had came in on. Maggie fell asleep to the motion of my strides as I ran towards where my car was, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I hadn't wanted to admit to anyone, not even myself but I was scared. I was alone in a new world, I had no allies to call upon, the world I was in was going to hell, and I had my daughters to take care off. I couldn't do anything about those problems right now, so I just shook my head and focused on the task at hand, finding a place to stay for a while. After a few hours of a steady jog with Mouse keeping up beside me, I finally reached the area where my car had gone off the road. Finding the car in the dark was difficult, but I managed by lighting up my pentacle and using it as a torch. Placing Maggie down, I started to look through the car for anything I could use. We hadn't taken a tent when we went camping due to the fact we were in the middle of the woods, but we did have some good sleeping bags that were waterproof and very warm, being designed for winter use. Grabbing a few water bottles that still had some in them, I poured one out into a dish that had been in the back for Mouse, as well as some food, which he proceeded to wolf down. Drinking the water slowly, I stretched my limbs gently and twisted my body to get any kinks outs; I might feel like I could go all night, but my body was still being damaged, I just didn't notice it. Finishing the water I stood up and tied the sleeping bags to the duffle bag, which I hung around my shoulders again; Bending down I picked Maggie up and settled her against my back. Taking a last look around before taking off, I tried to memorize where this location was. Turning around I set off, to finish the long distance jog to the Finney's farm. I had only been jogging for what felt thirty minutes, when Mouse slowed down beside me, and looked behind us.

"What is it boy?" I asked having slowed down as well and was also looking behind us down the road, where a curve in the road obstructed anything beyond it from view. It was bright enough tonight though with the moon overhead, that I was not worried about anything sneaking up on me from the darkness. Mouse just let out a quiet woof so as to not wake Maggie up, and his tail started to shake. I was pretty sure whoever was coming was friendly, but just to be sure I focused on listening back the way we had came. Listening is a skill that I had picked up over my life that wasn't related to magic; it was just a skill that some people had. It didn't make my hearing any better, all it did was allowed me to focus on the noise I wanted by cutting out any ambient noise. With it I was able to hear what sounded like tires coming up the road, along with the sound of someone cursing. "Huh." I said to myself, as Mouse's tail started wagging even harder. Stepping off the road, I placed myself under the trees where it was darker. Calling Mouse over softly, I drew a fast and dirty veil over us, becoming almost invisible due to the veil breaking our form up and standing in the shadows. Waiting for a bit, I could hear them getting closer and closer, I could start to make out more details such as they were panting heavily and at least one was a male, judging from the voice letting out various muttered swears. As they rounded the corner, I started to make out more details. There were three figures on bicycles coming down the road, two of them were on the small side, and the third was bigger than them. Each of them had a bag attached to their bicycle, which was slowing them down. Due to my veil, their faces were blurry but I had a sense of familiarity with each them, and as they drew closer I started to make out enough features that I was fairly confident on who they were. Looking down at Mouse whose tail was beating back and forth like a propeller, I finally let him go.

"All right, go ahead." I said softly. Mouse let out a large bark as he ran out of the tree line, and started jumping around the bikers, who I now identified as Juniper, Eilir, and Dennis, almost fell off their bikes in surprise. I dropped the veil and stepped out on to the road. Maggie must have been really tired, she didn't even twitch from the barking. "Evening." Were my first words to the three surprised travelers.

"Harry." Juniper cried out in surprise, while Dennis cursed. "What are you doing here? And how did you get here before us?" She finished while given the bag I was carrying a look.

Taking a quick look at them, I noticed the weapons they were carrying, from the crossbows each one had, to the sword Juniper had and the ax Dennis had. I was extremely glad I hadn't gone with my first impression to jump out and yell boo.

"I'm out here looking for the Finney's place, like I told you." I said with a smile, while Mouse had finally started to settle down, when Eilir decided to pet him. "As for how I got out here before you, that's easy, magic."

Dennis just shook his head and rubbed his face, muttering to himself "Great, another one."

From Juniper I got a laugh and a strange look, as well as a strange look from Eilir.

"Want me to prove it it?" I asked, as I pulled a business card from my wallet, and gave it Juniper. She laughed even harder and gave the card to Eilir, who gave me a wide smile.

"You're a Wiccan as well then?" Dennis asked me after he saw my business card.

"Wiccan? No, why?" I said sounding confused.

"Because I am a one." Juniper said, "I'm the High Priestess of my coven actually, and I am a witch."

"Yeah, that." Dennis said. "I figured since you call yourself a wizard, you would be a Wiccan as well." Juniper gave a Dennis an exasperated glance, while Dennis just threw up his hands, and said "Sorry Juney."

"Nah it's ok." I tell them. "I am not a Wiccan, but i've worked with some were some good people."

"What do you mean than, when you say you're a wizard?" Dennis asked me, while Juniper also had a curious expression.

"I mean I do everything it says on the card." I say, before deciding to ask a few questions of mine own. "What are you doing out here anyway? Did you decide on what to do?"

"Yes I think we have." Juniper said, as Dennis deferred to her. "I have a few horses and a wagon out at the Finney's place, that Luther is taking care of for me. We're heading out there to grab them and warn Luther and Sarah, his wife, about what's happening. After that I think we'll head to a place I own out in the foothills, and if there's any of my coven left that's where they'll head."

"Got room for few more?" I asked Juniper, not really sure what had made me ask.

"You know, I think we have might have room." Juniper said with a smile.

"Thanks Juniper." I said, feeling like a weight had been taking off of me. I had been worried about what to do for future having to take care of Maggie, and being with a group of people would make it easier. From what I could tell though, these were good people. "We should probably get a move on though to the Finney's."

"You're right." Juniper said, agreeing with me, before signing to Eilir who was still petting Mouse "Dennis, come on."

Juniper and the others got on their bikes as I called Mouse over, and we took off. I had been closer than I thought, and we only ended up travelling another thirty minutes before reaching the start of the Finney's property, which Juniper helpfully pointed out to me.

"I hope Luther never went to bed early tonight." Juniper said, looking down the road that led through an orchard. "Come on, and let's hope he's alright."


	8. Chapter 8: The Finney

When we had arrived after midnight, we were greeted by the barking of Juniper's dog, Cuchulain, and the Finney's dogs. Coming to the door, we were invited inside by the Finney's, who were making some food and drinks for us. Before anything else I asked Sarah, Luther's wife, if there was a place I could lay Maggie down, who had woken up to get a bite to eat. Sarah pointed out a old comfy couch in the living room, and I set Maggie down on it, tucking the sleeping bag around her while Mouse settled down on the floor beside her. When I came back into the kitchen, I was greeted to the site of Luther pacing around the kitchen while muttering to himself. Turning to Juniper I asked, "So what is this about?"

"We asked Luther to go and test his rifles, to see if they worked." She said, shaking her head "Obviously they didn't."

"What on earth is going on Juney?" Luther exclaimed, confusion and anger in his voice. "And why are you here, Mister Dresden? No offence meant."

"None taken." I replied, waving Luther off. "Thank you for inviting us in, and for the food, by the way."

"Your welcome." He replied. "So Juney, what happened and what's with the swords and the like?"

"It started with the flash of white…" Juniper fell into the explanation with the air of a professional storyteller, yet not adding anything or embellishments. While explaining, she also told Luther how I had met up with them while trying to help people from the fire. Juniper laid out an overview of what she believed would be happening if this continued, and as she did Sarah's face grew paler while Luther's face grew stonier as she continued. By the time she finished the explanation of what was going on to the Finneys had sunken into their seats, with worried expressions on their faces. Sarah turned to Luther and exclaimed "Luther, the kids!"

"No use worrying right now, honey." Luther said, laying a calming hand on her arm. "So what is your plan now, Juney?"

"Run and hide." Dennis said before Juniper could respond.

"Basically that." Juniper said, after giving him a slight glare, before continuing on to tell Luther our plan, about how we were heading out to Juniper's place out in the foothills, where we could lay low if need and hopefully her friends would be going there as well. This gained some disapproval from Luther, until Juniper with help from Dennis started laying out what they believed would happen in the coming days, with people leaving the cities when food runs out and taking it from farms. When Juniper invited them to come with us, all Luther did was shake his head.

"Thank you Juniper, but we're good." Luther said, composing himself. "We have family and friends in these parts, and they will need a place to stay. You are welcome to stay if you want Juney, , and ."

Both Juniper and Dennis turned down the offer, citing that they had people they were looking to find and join up with. When it was my turn I just shook my head, responding, "Thank you for the offer, but I think I will stick with Juniper for now, no offense."

"None taken." Luther said, before standing up. "I think it's late now, we should all turn in for the night."

When we all agreed, we were shown places to sleep for the night. I was placed in the living room with Maggie, putting a sleeping bag beside where she was sleeping, while Dennis took another couch in the room. As I settled down to sleep, my thoughts turned to the people that were now separated from me, such as Thomas, Molly, and Murphy; I hoped that they were alright, and that I would be able to see them again. That night I slept dreamlessly due to the stress I had been under all day, as well being plain exhausted. I was woken the next morning by Maggie jumping on me and knocking out my breath, and as I started to become more aware I saw that Mouse was sitting beside me, sitting there with a doggy grin, Dennis had already awoke and left, and Sarah was standing off to the side with a hand over her mouth, trying to hide a smile.

"Did you see the goblin that jumped on me?" I asked, after I had gotten my breath back.

"Morning daddy." Maggie said, laughter her in voice. "Mrs. Finney was trying to wake you up, so I wanted to try."

"Sorry about that Mr. Dresden." Sarah said, taking her hand away from her mouth, but still smiling. "But she jumped before I stop her."

"It's alright." I said shaking my head. "I'm up now, so how can I help you Mrs. Finney?"

"Breakfast is just about ready, so up and at it." She replied, "Juniper and are already awake. And please, call me Sarah"

"Ah ok, thank you Sarah." I said, as I rolled out of the sleeping bag. Taking a second, I gave Maggie a hug and ruffled Mouse's head. "Come on rugrat, let's go see what's for breakfast."

During a good breakfast of eggs, potatoes and bacon, I fell into conversation with the adults about what we needed to do before we could leave, as the kids ate their food. After the meal we cleaned ourselves up, and headed out to work on Juniper's wagon and horse's. I was extremely thankful I had been taken in by Ebenezer now, due to the fact that when he wasn't teaching me magic, I was working with the animals and equipment he had on his farm. During my time there I had learned how to ride and care for horses, from simple grooming too even a bit of farrier work on the horse's we did this Maggie stayed with Sarah and Eilir, looking for anything that the Finney's could spare, as well as cleaning up the house. In the end, the Finney's were able to spare a few breeding chickens and a rooster, as well as some seed stock, as gifts. When we had the wagon stocked, the horse's had new shoes, and the wagon had been gone over for anything wrong, it was only a little past noon so we set about to helping the Finney's getting their house ready for more people. While working Juniper, Dennis, and I fell into discussing when we should leave, with me leaving most of the discussion to Juniper and Dennis due to the fact that they knew this area better than I did. In the end Dennis, with a bit help from me, was able to convince Juniper that we should leave that night, and only travel during the night, so we would be able to avoid any attention. When Juniper left, Dennis asked me a question I had been expecting since last night. "Dresden, if you don't mind, how did you keep up with us last night jogging, while carrying all that stuff? For that matter, how did you get out that far before us?".

"Magic." I responded, aware of how it sounded. I was not going to get into the whole deal behind my strength, so my answer would have to do.

"I was being serious!' Dennis responded, clenching his fist.

"So was I." With that last comment, Dennis turned and left with a huff, while Maggie and Mouse ran up to me.

"Hey Dad." Maggie asked, "Do you speak sign language? It's just I want to talk to Eilir but I don't know how, and I want to know what she's saying."

"Sorry kiddo." I said, feeling proud for how much of a good person Maggie was, and a little shame that I hadn't even thought of asking, instead relying on Dennis and Juniper to translate. "I don't know sign, but I bet if you ask Juniper, she would be happy to teach you."

Walking over to where Juniper was talking to Eilir, with Maggie holding my hand, I gave Maggie a thumbs up, while Juniper finally noticed us.

"Mrs. Mackenzie?" Maggie asked, slightly nervous. "I have a question."

"Sure, how can I help you Maggie?" Juniper said, with a smile on her face. "And please, call me Juniper."

Maggie looked up at me, and I nodded my head with a smile, taking a breath Maggie continued.

"Juniper, could you teach me sign language? I really want to talk to Eilir, and dad doesn't know it, so he's no help." That drew a slightly disgruntled look from me, and Juniper's smile grew even bigger, while one also grew on Eilir face.

"I would love to Maggie." Juniper said, before turning to me. "And how about you, Harry?"

"Sure, I think that would be a great idea." I stated not even thinking before responding.

"That's good to hear." Juniper told me, before turning back to Maggie. "Learning sign will take time, ok Maggie, so don't be disappointed if you don't get right away, alright?"

"Ok Juniper, thank you." Maggie said, before darting forward and giving Juniper a hug.

"Your welcome, Maggie. I am happy to teach anyone that asks." She replied, while kneeling down and returning Maggie's hug. I just smiled to myself, seeing that Maggie was becoming more comfortable with strangers.

"So when do you want to start?" I ask, after Maggie stopped hugging Juniper.

"How about now? Does that work for you Maggie?" Juniper asked, getting a nod from me, and excited "Yes", from Maggie. We spent the rest of our time on the Finney's farm learning how to sign, before leaving that night.


	9. Chapter 9: On the Road again

As soon as I heard the barking, I stepped back and drew a veil over myself to hide from the prey, and I made sure that the illusion of plain ground was in place over the stretch of rabbit trail. As the barking grew closer I slowed my breathing down, and tried not to jump in surprise when the rabbit ran out of the bushes and onto the rabbit trail, with Mouse close behind it. When the rabbit finally crossed the line I had drawn on the ground, it fell through the illusion and into the hole I had made beneath it, while Mouse was able to jump over the hole. Taking a second to remove the illusion from myself and the hole, so I didn't fall in, I approached the trap I had made with my magic. Earth magic was not where my talents lay, yet Ebenezer had forced me to learn at least one. The spell I had used was a very costly spell, but the fact that I was not in a rush helped, in that it gave me the time needed to properly center myself, and gather the energy needed. The trap was surprisingly simple, in that all I did was create a three by four by four hole in the middle of a rabbit trail, lay a illusion over it, and have Mouse chase a rabbit towards it. Taking a second to put the rabbit asleep so it wouldn't struggle as I lifted it out and killed it, I thanked Ebenezer for teaching me what little I knew about hunting, preparing and cleaning wild game so as not to prolong its pain. Reaching down, I patted Mouse's head, "Thanks boy." I disliked using Mouse and magic for hunting, but I needed to after our little caravan had picked up a few more people and we were starting to run out of food. As we headed back to the camp, I started to decide on what principles of magic I should talk to Juniper with tonight, thankfully I had finally had a chance to talk to Juniper in private about my suspicions.

We had been on the road for five days at this point after we had left the Finney's farm, and they hadn't been able to provide very much in the way provisions, so we were down to two small meals a day. It had been decided that we would travel at night to avoid other people, and rest by day in any convenient areas that we could find. During the first few days the going was easy, with most of the people having left the road on the first day, so as we crossed the valley, it was widely empty. Soon though more people began to cross the valley floor, first in a trickle, and then growing into a flood as more and more people left the cities. Between Juniper, Dennis, and I, we had decided that one adult should remain awake at all times to keep watch for anyone approaching and give a warning if needed. It was one such rotation that finally gave me a chance to talk with Juniper.

"Hey Harry, wake up, It's your turn." Juniper said, trying to wake me up.

"I'm up, I'm up." I said, after rolling over, and getting out of my sleeping bag. "Anything happen?"

"No, nothing really happened" Juniper shook her head, send her hair cascading back. "Not really tired though, might stay up with you for a bit, if that's alright?"

"Nah, go ahead." I replied, as Juniper settled down next to fire, and we fell into a comfortable silence as Juniper stared into the fire and I watched for anything approaching. When I finally decided to break the silence and discuss magic with her, Juniper gave a start as she stopped staring into space and focused on me.

"Juniper, I have a question, if you don't mind?"

"Go ahead Harry, how can I help you?"

"Juniper I need to know, do you really believe in magic?" I started to fidget as I asked, not sure how Juniper would respond.

"Yes, I do." Juniper said with a smile. "I know what it sounds like and what people think of me, but yes I do believe in magic."

"No, I mean real magic, like shapeshifting and flying?" In my defense, I didn't really think about how my question would sound, and I only really realised this after I had somehow managed to fit both feet in my mouth.

"Harry, let's get one thing straight, alright?" Juniper was clearly displeased now, with a large frown on her face, and her voice tight. "I know you are a good person, but please don't disrespect my religion, it is just as valid as your own. If you have a problem with me or my religion, just tell me straight to my face."

"No, I didn't mean… look I'm sorry...I…" I started to stammer out, the shift in the tone of the conversation having thrown me off, before I let out a sigh and raised my hand flat, forming my ball of sunshine spell with a whispered "Ignus, Infusiarus."

"W...What...what is that?" Juniper stammered out quietly, as she started to pale rapidly. "How did you do that?"

"Juniper, just breath." I said as she tried to pull in a breath. Grabbing a water bottle nearby and giving it to her, I waited for her to calm down before continuing. 'You better?"

"Yes, I am." Juniper said, after releasing a large sigh.

"Good, now to answer both of your questions at once; I used magic." I said, as Juniper grew a puzzled look.

"Really?"

"Really." I said, before apologizing for my mistake. "Sorry about earlier by the way, I didn't mean to offend you."

"It's alright, I just get tired of it sometimes." She waved me off, before getting back on track. "How was that magic though? I've never done anything like that before."

"Well I have training, which helps."

'You mean like Hogwarts?"

"No." I bit out. For the record I disliked the Harry Potter series. "Not like Hogwarts."

"Then how did you learn how to do that?"

"I was taken in and taught how, and why, to use magic when I was younger."

"Wait, I am confused." Juniper said, tilting her head. "Why are you sharing all of this me?"

"I am glad you asked." I said, organizing my thoughts to figure out the best way to put this. "Most people can learn a little bit of magic, but only a few have the ability to learn more then a few spells, and if they go untrained, it can go wrong, badly. I believe that you have the ability and talent needed to learn magic, and I wanted to offer to teach you."

"What?" She said, completely deadpan as she stared at me, before pointing at the ball of sunshine. "But I've never done anything like that before!"

"I think you have, you just didn't know you have." I said, after I finally dismissed the spell. "Consider this your first lesson if you want, magic is powered by your will, emotions, and belief. If you truly believe magic works a certain way, it does work that way for you. When you are casting a wiccan spell, you truly believed the spell would work, so you would used you magic unaware. If you spell worked after you cast it, this would reinforce the idea you had that your magic worked that way, resulting in your magic having a harder time express itself in a different way. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I think I understand." Juniper said slowly, looking into the distance before releasing a short burst of laughter and tears.

"What?" I asked wearily, usually when someone breaks into laughter and tears like that it's a bad sign.

"Nothing, I am happy is all." Juniper said, shaking her head. "I don't mind normally being made fun of for being a wiccan, and believing in magic, because I had faith. And you just proved my faith, so thank you for that."

"Your welcome, and I'm glad your happy." I replied, before I continued. "But don't take this the wrong way, but magic and the gods don't depend on each other. Do you understand?"

"I think so, but thank you all the same." Juniper smiled, before becoming serious again. "As for teaching me, I would love to be taught but could I have a bit of time to think about it?"

'"Of course, take all the time you need. As you said this is a huge decision, and no one can make this choice but you."

"Am I allowed to tell anyone?" Juniper asked, with a concerned look.

"Sure, go ahead." I replied, waving my hand. "Magic is not some big secret, hell, I used to be in the phone book under wizard."

This got a snort out of Juniper, before she continued. "Then why does nobody know about it?"

"Because no one wants to believe in it. Magic is scary, but it also makes people question themselves about what else may exist. Most people don't like to question themselves."

"Oh." Juniper said, before falling quiet. We did not speak again and she soon fell asleep as I finished my watch. Over the next few days of travelling we never really spoke except for pleasantries and lessons on sign language; If anyone noticed they never said anything; yet I did get a few strange looks from Eilir. I spent most of my time teaching Maggie tricks for woodcraft that Ebenezer had taught me, such as how to make traps, and how to hunt. It was one such little teaching trip Maggie and I were on that led to us missing the incident with the other travellers. When we got back to camp, we were introduced to our new traveling companions, a Oriental woman named Sally Quinn who had a crossbow bolt in her leg, and her young son Terry. It seemed that in the short time we were gone, the others had accosted by a group including Sally and her son, who were looking for food. The rest of the group had been scared off after Eilir had put the bolt into Sally's leg, when apparently Sally had been aiming a bow at Juniper. As Juniper and Dennis tended to Sally and her son, I went to see how Eilir was doing. We couldn't really talk, but I knew she could read my lips, so I tried to talk to her about what she had had to do. In the end I boiled it down to, "Eilir, I know you feel terrible right now, but you did what you felt like you had to do to protect your mother. It's not easy, but you will get over it and if you ever need to talk to someone my door is open." Eilir had stopped crying when I was talking to her, and when she gave me a small smile and a hug, all I did was smile and give her a hug back. Eilir ran back over to help Juniper and Dennis with Sally, while Maggie was introducing Terry to Mouse, who seemed to find the large dog fascinating. In the end Juniper, with a little prodding from Eilir, decided to bring them with us, and few hours later we were off with Sally and her son in the back of the wagon asleep, as we made our way through the night. When we stopped the next day, Juniper approached me after we had gotten everyone else tucked away.

"Harry, I want you to teach me." She said, with a determined look on her face.

"Are you sure?" I responded, turning to face her. "This is not something easy, it is hard and there are someday's where you will probably hate me."

Juniper took a deep breath, and let out a sigh. "Yes, I am sure. I don't mind the hard work, as some say 'Bidh an t-ubhal as fheàrr air a'mheangan as àirde'. The best apple is on the highest branch."

I just nodded my head, trying to appear wise and replied, "Very well then, you are now my apprentice."

"Thank you Harry, when do we start?" Juniper asked with a smile.

"Now." I said, and looked directly into her eyes.

* * *

 **I just wanted to apologize for the quality of the last post, and answer a few questions that were asked**

 **Fionn the Otaku= I know the explanation that Dresden gave to Maggie seemed weak, but as I see it he wouldn't have wanted to cause Maggie to much panic by telling that society was just destroyed. As for Juniper and Dennis not noticing that he was keeping pace with them, it comes down to the fact they have each been through so much that night; Dennis with getting into a fight and trying to kill someone, as well as the suffering he has seen. Juniper on the other hand is worried for Eilir and her husband Rudy, who had been taking a flight the night of the change. She has not mentioned Rudy yet to Dresden because she is still holding out hope he is alright.**

xbox432= **The water towers were there, but there was a serious traffic accident earlier that day, which wiped out one of the main pipes. Also right when the change happened, some of the cars on the road wiped out some fire hydrants. Such bad luck, it was almost like an act of god...**


	10. Chapter 10: The Arrival

"His animals are out of their pens, he wouldn't allow that." Were Juniper's first words when we reached the Fairfax Farm. Juniper, Dennis, and I were currently looking down at the front yard of a refurbished farmhouse that had been bought three years ago by the Fairfax's, and Frank apparently had fixed it up. According to Juniper they were a old mormon couple from Idaho Frank and his wife Joan, who had retired from potato farming, and bought the place as a hobby farm. Apparently they got along alright with Juniper even if, as she put it, Joan had almost fainted when they found out Juniper was a real live witch. Looking down at the farm, I could tell they had put a lot of effort into this place to make it a home, even adding a tire swing for their grandkids.

"It's quiet as the grave." Dennis said, and Juniper and I both shivered. Turning my head to look at him, I just glared and shook my head, while he realised what he had said. He let out a quiet "Sorry."

"It's alright." Juniper replied, before standing up and continuing. "But we have to take a look. Come on."

Juniper led the way down towards the farmhouse, while all of us looked around for anything out of place due to the fact that I have long ago discovered that it never hurts to be properly paranoid. It was the smell that I first noticed as we neared the house; it wasn't strong, yet as we drew closer it increased. It tried to shove it's way down my throat and make my stomach heave, yet I had been exposed to it before, over my career as a private investigator. When I saw the raven fly out of the open window and heard the buzzing of flies, I guessed what had happened, and I knew I was not wrong. Dennis and Juniper must have guessed on what had happened, because Dennis swore to himself and Juniper tied a bandana around her mouth. Juniper approached the front door, and pulled the letter off that had been taped to the glass behind the screen, and began to read aloud.

"The emergency generator cut out when the main power went and I couldn't get it started, and nobody else round about seems to be better off." The letter began, Juniper pausing for a second before continuing. "I put our insulin in the icebox. Joan used the last of it yesterday. It was spoiled, but there wasn't anything else, so I told her there were two doses and injected water myself. I'm sure now she'll never wake up. I'm starting to feel very sleepy and thirsty and my feet are numb; I'm sorry I can't give her proper burial, and ask anyone who finds this to try and see that we're given LDS rites. Sam from the seed company left two days ago to get help and hasn't come back. I'm going to go let the stock loose so they can water themselves and set out feed while I still have some strength, but the road gate's closed so they won't wander too far. The second key is to the cellar where our emergency stores are. Anyone who needs them can use them; just don't waste anything. I think bad times are here, and that's what they're for. Whoever reads this, God keep you." Juniper had to pause again for a second and rub tears from her eye's before continuing, and I silently told myself I would find who had brought about this event to mankind, and kill them. "I can't keep awake anymore, so I'm going upstairs to be by Joan in eternity as we have been together so long in time. Tell Joseph and John and Dave and June and Kathleen and all the children that we love them. Frank Fairfax."

Juniper turned away from Dennis and me, rubbing at her eyes to get the tears out, while Dennis swore again to himself and I stared woodenly ahead. I wasn't worried for Dennis or Juniper even if they hadn't had to deal with anything like this before; I had gotten to know Dennis over the time we had been travelling and I could tell he had a good head on his shoulders, but for Juniper I remembered the strength I had seen in her the night we had soul gazed, and knew she would be alright. Listening to her, I heard her let out a quiet "Blessed be."

"Juney, I am sorry about the Fairfaxes." Dennis said, after she had turned back to face us. "But you said their family lives in Idaho, right?"

"Yeah, they are potato farmers near Twin Falls, why?"

"I think we should take an inventory, see what there is."

Juniper glared at Dennis for a second, before letting out a sigh. "That's not a bad idea, Frank said he alway needed a field in at least, plus whatever is in the cellar."

"We should do that, but there's something we got to do first." I cut in, before they could continue. "Before anything, we should lay the Fairfaxes to rest as best we can. Juniper, you head back and grab the kids, okay? We should try and get them off the road. While you're gone Dennis and I will bury them."

"Good point." Juniper agreed, before speaking to Dennis. "Will you be alright?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry Juney." He answered, waving her off. As Juniper nodded and left to get the others, Dennis spoke up. "So what do you need me to do?"

"I need you to go find a place we can bury them, and then I need you to come in and help move them out, after I am done preparing them. Don't worry about digging a grave, I'll take care of it."

"Right, thanks Harry." Dennis said, before walking off to find a place to lay the Fairfaxes to rest. As he did, I noticed how he had changed in the short time I had known him. The night I had first met him, he could have been generously described as having a keg for a stomach. Now though after a week of hard travel and little food, his belly had largely disappeared, showcasing the muscle he did have. Turning, I entered the house and got to work preparing the bodies. I ended up wrapping the bodies in a set of white sheets, after clearing the flies out of the room with a held back _ventas_. When Dennis came back from finding a spot they could be laid to rest, he and I picked them up and carried them out. He had chosen a good spot near the gardens, underneath a small oak tree. Laying them down, Dennis turned to me. "So where's the shovels?"

"Stand back." I told him, as I prepared myself, receiving a strange look from Dennis. I didn't normally do large works of magic around those that weren't aware of what I could do unless I needed to, but I wanted to have the Fairfaxes buried before Juniper got back with Maggie and the rest. "Please hold your questions till after I'm done."

"What do you mean?" Dennis asked, while stepping back. I cut him off with a "Dispertius", tearing open a hole in the ground that was at least four feet deep. I wasn't the best at using earth magic for tasks like this, due to how tiring it was, but in the end this way was far faster, allowing us to finish before Juniper got back with the kids. Maggie had seen through enough in her life, and I didn't want to expose her or any of the other kids to any more unpleasantness in life for as long as I could. Turning, I caught Dennis staring at me as if I had grown a second head. "You alright?"

"What the fuck was that!?" Dennis burst out, gesturing at the hole. Thinking about it, I probably should have warned him a little before I started; but hindsight is twenty-twenty and all that. Dennis had gone an alarming shade of white, and I set to work calming him down before something happened.

"Listen." I said, staying back from Dennis with my hands out and empty, to try and give him a sense of security. "First, take a deep breath, and let it out slowly." Looking at me like I was an idiot, he did as I asked, and I was pleased to note a little bit of colour returning to his face. "Ok, I'm sure you have questions, but we have work to do, so ask me after we're finished." I told him, gesturing at the covered bodies of the Fairfaxes. It was something I had picked up over my life, in that if someone is panicked or worried, give them something to do to take their minds off of their problems.

"No, I want an answer right now!" He barked out, clenching his fists like he was about to throw a punch.

"No." I replied softly, staring him down. "After we bury the Fairfaxes, then I'll answer you, not before." Dennis looked like he was about to protest, but he just shook his head and we set to work, finishing in little time after I ended up closing the grave with a focus of will. Looking at Dennis, who was practically vibrating, I waved him on to ask his questions.

"What on gods green earth was that?" Dennis repeated himself, while point at the mound of earth.

"I told you before, Magic." I knew it wasn't what he wanted to hear, but I really shouldn't have been, but I was enjoying his reactions and he did not disappoint.

"Impossible, magic isn't real." He said, while shaking his head like he was trying to dry his hair.

"Dennis, what makes more sense?" I began, drawing his attention back to me. "That there just so happened to be a hole underneath the grass right where you had chosen, and there just so happened to be two extremely localised earthquakes that you never even felt, opening and closing the hole, with just enough time between them for us to lay the Fairfaxes down; or that it was magic?"

"Oh." Dennis was quiet for a few minutes as he tried to wrap his head around the fact that one of the fundamental rules of the world he lived by his whole life was ripped away. In the silence, I was able to hear the sounds of the wagon approaching the house, as well as Juniper's dog. "The night we meet, you weren't kidding when you said magic, were you?"

"Nope, I wasn't. Sorry about springing it on you like that."

"It's alright." He said, while waving me away. "Apologize for the freak out, just a lot to take in."

"No need, completely understandable. So any other questions?"

"Ummmm, yeah actually." Dennis replied, while his gaze grew distant. "What else can you do? I mean besides keeping up with us while carrying a lot of weight, and opening holes in the ground."

"A lot." I told him, glad he was taking it semi-calmly. "Why?"

"Did you cause the Change?" Dennis didn't sound mad when he asked me that, rather he sounded tired. I guess I had underestimated how affected he was. "Can you fix it?"

"I did not cause it, and I cannot fix it, but thank you for the vote of competence." Dennis looked a little abashed when I replied in a dry voice. "I can do a lot, but something of this magnitude is out of my ability."

"Okay thanks, I just needed to know. If I have any other questions can I ask you?" Dennis let out a breathe, and started to relax. I was glad that I had left out the fact while something of this magnitude was impossible for me, on a much smaller scale I would be able to do something very similar. "Come on, let's go help Juney and the rest."

"Go ahead, ask any questions you have." We fell into a comfortable silence as we walked back to Juniper and wagon, ready to get back to work. Maggie and Terry would be staying with Sally near the wagons, while Eilir would stick with Juniper as we searched the farm. We decided to split up to cover more ground as we searched, with Juniper searching the barn, Dennis the house and cellar, while I remember half forgotten lessons from Ebenezer to check what shape the animals were in, while hoping sheep and pigs weren't to different. I soon finished, and started back towards the wagons to share what I had found after hearing Dennis whooping and Juniper laughing. When I reached them Juniper had a solemn look upon her face, while Dennis an excited one, so I decided to bite the bullet, and go first to give them a chance to calm down.

"Well the animals seem to be in good shape." I began, stopping for second when I realised that I sounded like I was giving a report. I told myself to throw some rocks at a street sign later, to get myself into my proper rebel mind set. " I counted twelve sheep, a well trained sheep dog, a Jersey cow and her calf, a few chickens, and a couple beehives around back. What did you find?"

"We're in luck Dresden, there was a delivery of seed potatoes right before the change." Dennis said after sharing a look with Juniper. "And the basement was packed full of medicine, food, candles, the works. We're saved Dresden, we're saved."

"Is that what you were whooping about?" I asked, feeling a small grin start to grow on my face, and a bit of elation in my crusty old soul at the good news.

"Yeah, nothing wrong with that; is there Dresden?" Dennis answered, while giving me a wary look.

"Nah." I replied, while glaring at him. The Winter Mantle's instinct had been fairly quiet the last few weeks, but they were still there, and I had to take a second to settle them down as they took the look as a challenge, turning from him to Juniper. "So what's the plan?"

"My camp is not far from here." Juniper began, after turning around and pointing towards the back of the property. "There's an old logging road that leads up from the back of the to property to my camp, not even twenty minutes away. We'll load some of the supplies from the cellar onto the wagon, and take it up with us to the camp. Once we're there, we can start getting it ready for us to stay at, as well as for anyone that made it. If there are any members of my coven left, they will be coming to my camp."

"Sounds like a plan." Dennis and I agreed, before I turned towards the wagon, where Maggie was sitting up front, talking to Sally. Waiting until there was a pause in the conversation, I broke in before they could continue, and tried to put a bit of humour in my voice "Hey Maggie, want to help out raiding the place?"

"Sure.." Was Maggie's quick response, before turning back to Sally. "I would like to hear more of the story later if that's alright?"

"No problem at all Maggie." Sally answered, before turning to me. "Are we almost at Juniper's place?"

"Yeah, not to far now, we should be there soon." I reassured Sally, and getting a nod in return as her son climbed up beside her, as I led Maggie towards the house. With the help from Eilir and Maggie, we soon finished moving some supplies from the cellar to the back of the wagon, and were on the way to Junipers cabin in no time, trudging up the old logging trail, listening to Juniper explain her views of the basic tenets for being a wiccan to Sally after we spotted a carts wheel with a silver crescent moon, points upwards, painted on it, framed by a pair of massive elk horns hanging from a old tree, facing the path. Underneath it was a wooden plank with the words "ewtwrf: aihn,dayw", being an acronym for: Eight Words The Wiccan Rede Fulfill: An It Harm None, Do As Ye Willr, according to Juniper. In the end it seemed to me, it boiled down to "If it hurts no one, do what you want." I also listened in to Juniper discussing her covens name "The Singing Moon Coven", and her views on magic when it concerned her faith, with Sally expressing disbelief that Juniper was a witch. When I heard Juniper's comment about being unable to wiggle her nose and magic up some food, I laughed to myself, mumbling "Just you wait." I sobered up though as I heard more about Juniper's husband, Rudy Starn, who was not the father of Eilir, and who had been in Eugene the night of the Flash. She was holding out hope that he was still alive, if he was he would be on the cabin, along with any others of her coven. Juniper had told me before about her husband, after she had asked about Susan, and I had hope that Rudy was alright; but I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that this was not the case.

Dennis, Maggie and Eilir were walking ahead of the horse, chatting back and forth in sign, with Dennis helping Maggie if she needed it, while behind us a in the wagon Terry was asleep, and tied to the rear was the Jersey cow and it's cafe close behind. When Dennis reached the top of the ridge that offered a good view of the cabin, he pulled out a pair of binoculars to take a look at something. Juniper brought a wagon to a halt as Eilir took off running over the ridge after signing something to Maggie, after which Maggie ran back to me. Bending down, I scooped her up and kissed the top of her head. "You see something, Mags?"

"Yeah." She exclaimed, smiling. "There's a lot of people at Mrs. Juniper's cabin. Eilir said their friends."

"If they are, let's go say hello." I told her, as Dennis was telling Juniper some of her friends had made it to her cabin, after recognizing one of them who was named Chuck Barstow, due to his "unique" hat he was wearing, and some others as well.

"It's the Singing Moon." Juniper said after letting out a laugh, to reassure Sally, who was looking a little confused. "A few of them, at least. They've been here before, and we were going to have a meeting here the night of the change. Chuck, or Judy, must have originized this, thank the Goddess; I told you I was half expecting them to come here anyway. They had further to travel, but probably didn't need to hide as much."

"That's good to hear." I broke in, before putting a bit of iron in my voice. "And your sure we can trust them?" I didn't normally speak out like this, but I had to be sure I could trust Maggie with a group of strangers. Maggie frowned at hearing this, while Mouse bumped against my leg.

"With my life." Juniper responded with a solemn voice, while Dennis and Sally stared at me. Catching sight of Maggie, she smiled to reassure her, before continuing to me. "Harry, don't worry; my friends are good people, you have nothing to worry about."

"Well alright then." I told her, while hoisting Maggie further up, "Let's go say hi."

 _AN: Just wanted to say I am sorry that it took so long to get this chapter out, it fought me every step of the way, plus life kept on keeping me down. Hopefully now I will be able to get back on track, focus on the story, and get the next chapter out quicker. Have any questions, just give a shout. And please review if you feel like it, I won't judge, but Frank might..._

 _divad relffehs_ _: Stick around, I plan to get into a lot about what you asked, and as you can see, it's already starting. There will be a few different trains of thought about harrys magic, depending on who's thinking. One whose thoughts differ should be pretty obvious. Don't worry, Juniper is not as strong as Dresden thinks she is, and I will get into why that is. Most of the questions you asked I will get into, but I don't want to give too much away. And as for Maggie, I am basing her on some word of Jim, in that when the fire, panic, and chaos, Maggie is pretty calm and handle it fairly well, like Harry. It's only when everything is calm that she really has trouble. PS need more Emberverse fanfics_


	11. Chapter 11: Quiet Night

"Focus on your breathing." I spoke quietly to Juniper, as I continued to teach her how to meditate, while behind her the others continued to try and and follow my lessons on how to gather magic. The lessons were taking place after supper, while the rest of the group of coveners that had formed around Juniper for leadership after arriving at the cabin were either reading by the lights of the candles and fireplace, playing board games, or continuing school lessons for the kids that had arrived with the others on the floor below us, while we were in the private area Juniper had sat aside for her private craft workings. Looking at the few I was trying to teach magic to, I almost wished I was down below reading as well, instead of trying to remember old lessons on the how to use magic from DuMorne. I had been blessed in that regard when came to teaching magic, with both Kim and Molly already knowing how to use magic, just needing to be taught the "why" of using it. Molly had learned the lesson, while Kim had never had the chance. Unlike them, a few of my current crop students needed more help when it came to the "how" to use it, but already had a better grasp on the why; I guessed it helped to not have used black magic before.

Arranged in front of me in whatever position felt most comfortable while forming a semicircle, I glanced over my four students. Juniper seemed to be doing better, breathing slowly and deeply, while sitting in the classic lotus position, while beside her Eilir and Maggie both sat, trying their best to meditate, Maggie with her eye's closed, while Eilir had her's open in case I needed to give her an instruction. At the end was my newest student, Judy Barstow, the "handfasted" aka wife of Chuck Barstow, and Junipers best friend, who had asked to join the lessons after Juniper had told her about them. Apparently they had grown up and gone to school together, becoming Wiccans at the same, the works. When Juniper had first told her what I was teaching, she had marched up to me and threatened to break my nose if I did not tell her what my scam was. One quick ball of fire later, she had accepted what I had said to be true, and asked to be taught. She did not have the talent nor power needed to become a wizard, but anyone can learn magic if they put the time and effort into it. Judy's progress was slow when compared to Juniper, as could be expected due to the need to focus on one spell at a time for her, but it was all working out so far. Drawing my attention back to the group after a few minutes of quiet thought, I spoke up again while also looking to see if I startled any of them. "Alright, that's good for tonight."

Most of them blinked, focusing back on me, and Eilir smiled, seeing as how I also spoken in sign language. Judy stood up, stretching her back, while beside her Juniper blinked a few times to herself. Maggie appeared to have fallen asleep in the time I wasn't looking, so I talked softer before the rest had a chance to leave."We continue tomorrow night, if that works for all of you?" Getting nods from the others, I gave some last minute instructions for the next day. "Alright, for homework I would like you to reach the same state of mind during the day, when there are more distractions around. This is an important skill to have, so it helps to start practicing early. Understand?"

Eilir and Juniper both smiled and gave a nod, while Judy frowned to herself, before speaking up. "Thank you Harry for agreeing to teach me, but this is not what I expected. I mean, I never expected it to be easy, but learning your magic is far harder than I imagined."

I smiled to myself as I looked upon my students. I had known at one point this question would come up, and I was glad I had an answer prepared in advance. "It might surprise you too know that I have been through the same thing, but don't worry you're already past the hardest part, accepting that magic is real, which is not easy for most people, even if they have proof. The next step is to learn how to use magic consciously. For wizards, those born with the talent, the first time is usually by accident, but over time with training it does become easier. Judy, for you it will be much more difficult due to having to learn from scratch, how to feel and use magic. But don't worry, you will learn how eventually."

"I know, you've told me before. I am trying, but no matter what I can't seem to get it."

"Remember Judy, there is only do or do not, there is no try."

"Star wars? Really?" Judy asked indignantly.

"What, it fits." I said, defending one of the pieces of culture that was closest to my heart from ungrateful apprentices. This earned a chuckle from Juniper and a eye roll from Eilir. "No appreciation for the classics, you philistines."

"Alrighty, fine. But I am not running through any swamps with you on my back." Was Judy's quick reply.

"We'll see padawan, we will see." I told her with a smirk. "Who know's what tomorrow will bring."

 _I do_ , was Eilir's reply, smiling. _Planting, planting, and more planting._ I had been continuing in the lessons for learning sign language, practicing every day with Juniper and Bonnie. It turns out that Maggie had thought up of practicing with her sister first, and I was proud of both of them. I had become competent enough that I could hold a decent conversation with someone, as long as they went slowly. It was nice to finally be able to understand Eilir without depending on another. She turned out to have a good sense of humor and was pretty good kid, so I was glad when she seemed to take Maggie under her wing, maybe some of her sense of humor would rub off on her.

"Could be, let's ask the chief." I replied, smiling before I turned to Juniper. "So oh Chief Mackenzie, what's the plans for tomorrow?"

"Oh go boil your head, Harry. Don't you start as well." There was a bit of story behind Juniper's new nickname, and for once I was not to blame, instead it was Dennis's idea. When we had first arrived at Juniper's camp, Juniper had launched into a speech to the members of her coven who had made it, and a group of kids they had saved from an abandoned bus. It had been a good speech, Juniper calling on everyone to work together to survive, like a clan in the old days. After a few day's of following her order's, Dennis had started to call her Chief Mackenzie as a joke. It didn't really catch on until someone from one of the near by farms had heard him, and it started to spread. "And as for work tomorrow, we're doing one of the fields over near the Armors property, then if we still have time in the afternoon a few of us will try our luck with hunting for some game."

"Could use a short day tomorrow after tonight." In the first few weeks it was my job to teach the others how to operate the farming tools they had found, as well as managing the animals as best I could, due to my past experience on Ebenezer's farm for a few years, while Chuck Barstow and I taught them how to cultivate the plants. The lessons Ebenezer had taught me had stuck around, and so I was able to teach the others on how to properly use a horse drawn plow, how to feed chickens, and care for the horses when we were using them. Juniper had met with the neighbours in the first few days after moving in, working out deal for the swap of labour, food, and equipment with each of them. It had been a experience, teaching people who were the closer to my age how to use the tools, but now it seemed I was done, and I could move on to providing more help with the actual farming. I hoped they would spread the lessons I had taught on to others, so that more people would have a chance for survival. Shaking my head, I focused back on Juniper before I continued. "So who's on watch with me tonight?"

"That would be Chuck, you sure you'll be fine for work tomorrow?"

"Sure, no problem, I am use to dealing a lot less sleep." The watch for the night was one of the idea's I had insisted on, to the frustration of some of the others, but they soon saw reason for it. They had kept a watch during their trip to Juniper's cabin, but after they had reached it, they thought they would be premise was that two people would be stay awake until a bit after midnight to keep watch over everyone else, and make sure no one snuck up on us, and then switch to two other people, and then two more, so they could catch some sleep. A few people hadn't taken the watch seriously until a group of five had tried to sneak up and catch the inhabitants of the cabin by surprise. Thankfully I had been on watch with Chuck that night, and I was able to drive the group away, with a low powered _foreze_ surging forward like a wave, and hitting them like a line of defense men. They lost whatever stomach they had after that, turning and running back the way they had came. The next day we got the word out to the neighbours about them, and I got a series of apologies from those that had doubted the need for a watch.

"Will you be alright watching over Maggie tonight?" Juniper was the one that Maggie slept near whenever I was on watch,with Mouse beside her acting as a giant living teddy bear to keep the nightmares away, sometimes Juniper would even hold as she slept. Maggie had awoken a few times from her nightmares, crying out in fear as she did. Mouse had far better luck than me when it came to getting her to fall asleep, his presence calming her down, while Juniper hugged her and stroked her hair. Juniper had asked about Maggie's nightmares once, the only answer I could give was that it was complicated, and how Maggie had been through a lot. Juniper seemed to accept the answer, but she and Eilir tried to keep an eye on Maggie, acting like Charity would, except with less threats of bodily violence.

"I'll be fine, if I need anything I'll send Mouse."

"Hah, thanks Juniper."

"No problem Harry."

Picking up Maggie, I carried her over to where Juniper's and Eilir bedrolls were set up, and I set her down into her's, taking a second to pull the blankets over her, and brush the hair off her face. Nodding to Eilir, Juniper, and Judy, I headed downstairs to where the rest of the people were gathered, sitting in groups talking or reading some of the books Juniper had had in the camp before the Change had occurred. Crossing the floor to where Chuck was sitting in a chair near the fire reading a book, I felt a few eyes on my back coming from the group of school kids that the other group had found and had subsequently taken in, to try and help them. Reaching Chucks side, I drew his attention with a cough, and nodded my head towards the door. "Ready to start?"

"Good to go Dresden." Standing up, we started to head to the door, stopping to grab some blankets and one of the group's spears that leaned in a corner, along with my staff, as well as Chuck saying goodnight to Judy, and the children they had taken to looking after as their own, Sanjay, Daniel, and Mary. Stepping outside and closing the door quickly behind us to keep the heat in, we both looked out over the clearing the camp was in, the out building, and in the distance the main road that led down the mountain. It was a cloudless night, a bit of frost still in the air, while overhead the half moon shone and the stars twinkled beside it. I missed Chicago, and my friends there, but I had forgotten how bright the stars really were out in the country, away from any lights. With a sigh Chuck started to settle into one of the chairs near the door, while I shook my head and stepped off of the porch, and took a few steps away. Going clockwise, I walked a circle around the camp, dragging my staff as I went, till I got back to where I started. With a minor effort of will, I rose the circle around the camp, turning and walking back to where my seat was next to Chuck, if anyone tried to cross the circle it would break, alerting me to their presence. As we settled into the watch, I decided to ask the question that had been on my mind for the last few minutes.

"So, what's on the kids minds?" I began, looking over at Chuck. He let out a breath, before turning to face me.

"You noticed that, then?"

"Kinda hard not to, something I'm kinda use to." I replied, laughing softly before I continued. "So what is it?"

"Before anything else I have to ask, can you find people with magic?"

"It depends." I said, getting a bad feeling in stomach as I guessed where the question was going. When the word had spread about my magic after the tussle, I had worried that the opinions of the rest of the group would change. It turns out I was worried for nothing, a few asked questions but not nearly as many as I thought they would. I got lucky in that regard I guess, being part of a group that society had already decided was odd long ago, and who beliefs already allowed for magic. The one's with most trouble with it were Sally and her son, and the kids found on the school bus, who didn't really understand what it meant. Sally I was able to assure the fears of through talking with her, explaining some of what I could do, and showing that she had nothing to fear. The kids on the other hand I may have tried to win over a little bit for Maggie's sake, putting on a small show with my magic after a few days of preparation and practice. Using the outdoor fire pit, I caused a phoenix to rise from the embers and fly in a circle around it, before it landed back into the fire pit, and collapsed into new flames. It was tiring work, but worth it when I glanced over at the kids who had wide eyes, and a few with their mouths hanging open. Maggie had sat beside them with a large smile on her face, and Mouse was beside her with a doggy grin; even Bonnie took notice it seems, with the eyes on her sanctuary glowing a light green. The kids had grown more use to me after that, and tried to spend time with Maggie afterwards, asking questions about me and magic. "I might be able to do something for them."

"They want to ask you to find their parents."

"I figured it was something along those lines." I sighed as I leaned back in my chair, staring at the stars, while I got my thoughts in order. Find things or people that were lost was my bread and butter when I was a private detective, so I had plenty of experience with using magic for that purpose. I was mainly worried if it didn't work, what would it do to the kids would they lose hope, or accept it and move on with help from those who had taken them in? Or even worst in some ways, what if it did work and it their parents were alive and separated by who knows how many miles. We would not be able to get them to their parents anytime soon, meaning they would still be with us until we could help them find their parents. "I might be able to help, but it depends on a few things."

"Darn, was hoping it was just a yes or no so that I could put the kids at easy. Why might it not work, if you don't mind me asking?"

"You ever here the term "like calls to like"?"

"Of course, is that what you would be doing, calling the pieces together?"

"Not quite; basically, when two things are together they start to make a connection. Using magic I track that connection, from one end to the other. The stronger the connection, the easier it is to track. So a child and their favorite toy would have a connection, but an even stronger connection would be between the child and a lock of their hair. Also side note:never give anyone a piece of yourself including your true name, it can lead to trouble as it's a strong connection to you. One of the strongest bonds is the one between family members, specifically parent and child. This connection is at its core one of blood, but it is also the connection between shared experiences and feelings reinforcing each other. This is very basic description mind you, and even then I don't know everything. If it doesn't work, the distances may be to great, or something may have happened to parents. I will leave it up to you if you want to tell them about this, alright?"

"Thanks Harry, I'll talk to Judy about this. We will probably let Sanjay, Mary and Daniel know though. It might let them settle in better if they had some answers, and I don't want to keep this from them."

"If it's any consolation, when I was that age I would want to know, rather than dealing with what ifs and would have beens."

"Thinking about it, so would I. And that's why I have a favour to ask you Harry."

"What is it?"

"Could you see if my brother was still alive?" Chuck looked at me when he asked, while his hands fidgeted a bit. "He's the last of my family I have left, and I need to know if he is still alive."

"I'll do it." I replied, after letting out a sigh. "But remember what I told you, this may not work."

"I know, but I have to see."

"I understand, this may take a few minutes to get ready."

"Thanks again Harry."

"Your welcome, Chuck." There was a connection between siblings, but it wasn't nearly as strong as the one between a child and their parent, but I could overcome that, as long as I had something with a strong connection to Chuck, and enough power. I was set for power, being one of the strongest wizards in the world in terms of raw power did have some advantages, so I just needed a few things from Chuck to do it. I spent a few minutes calming my mind, meditating to gather as much power I could, and working out a way to find Chuck's brother Alex with my spell, instead of Chuck. I got Chuck to cut off a lock of his hair, rolling them together with a few drops of his blood and saliva, to get a stronger connection. I asked him to tie the lock to my necklace, which I would use as an indicator to tell if Alex was still alive. "I'm good to go, you ready to know?"

"Yes I am, I need to know."

"Well alrighty then." Stepping off the deck, I walked to the edge of the circle I had made earlier and broke it with a scuff from my boot. I released the energy I had gathered through my pendent with a whispered word, sending it out into the world seeking a connection. Nothing happened for a few seconds until my necklace started to swing back and forth in the same direction no matter which way I turned. Smiling, I walked back to Chuck, glad that I had some good news to deliver. "Good news Chuck, your brother is alive."

AN: Hi, just to get this out of the way, I am not dead, just kinda lazy/writers block. Still writing, but busy with other stuff as well, so I do apologize for those that waited with baited breathe for this chapter.

Arafell: I meant wreck, as in to destroy. Also kinda meant wreak havoc as well. As for the gods, Dresden is angry, and he has a few theory's as well.

4everfictional: I am glad you like it so far, I will try to make it live up to you expectations. Dresden was unable to stop the fire just due to its size, and all of the fuel it has. In Cold Days, Dresden was worried about a fire in Mac's with all the liquor acting as a fuel, and he was able to put it out before he really got it started. The plane though has been on fire for awhile, its spread, and it has all the jet fuel, plus other accelerants needed to make it burn much hotter. As for Eddies name, the type of spells you would use a true name for besides tracking, are mostly black magic.


	12. Chapter 12: A Quick Look Around

"Behind you!"

I minded the cry, leaning towards the group of people in front of me to move out of the way of the axe swing; before spinning with my staff in my both my hands, and bringing down onto the kneecap of the woman behind me with a large cracking sound. She fell, screaming, as I continued on through to turn myself back around, to face the rest of the group who had attacked, gripping their various improvised weapons tightly, while behind me the woman cried and two of the men lay on the ground moaning, clutching their stomachs from taking a low powered _forzare_ to the chest. Keeping the three who were left in front of me, I backed away towards the side of the road, and the three who were standing there making a semicircle around the horse and wagon, holding their own assortment of handmade weapons with their bikes near their feet.

"Alright, this is how it will go." I began, focusing a bit of energy into my staff, causing the runes carved onto it to start to glow a faint blue-green. Looking at the people in front of me, I could see their bodies tense as they saw the glow, whether to fight or flee I didn't know, but I didn't want to give them the chance to collect themselves. Bringing my staff forward, I pointed it at the man in the lead of the group, "You will gather your friends and leave, You will drop any weapons you're carrying, and you will go back to where you came from. You will ask yourselves if this is really what you want to do with you life. If I ever see you or your friends again, you don't want to know what I'll do to you." To help push them the way I wanted, I brought my staff over my head, and slammed the end down into the ground, releasing a bit of force at the same time, shattering a section of ground the size of a dinner plate with a sound like thunder. "Now run."

The group of people dropped their weapons, and grabbed the wounded on the ground, as well as a few of their bikes that were within arm's reach, before taking off down the road back toward the way they came. Shushing the rest of my group when one started asking a question, I focused and LIstened for anything that would indicate that the group of would-be bandits decided to turn around, staying still for a few minutes to make sure they were gone. Turning back to the rest of my group, I was greeted by the sight of Alex Barstow staring at me with his mouth moving, as if trying to find the words, while beside him Jason Carson stared at me, his face gone white. The third member of the group, Dorothy Rose, decided to speak up turning to face the other two "Now you see why we call him the wizard."

"Dorothy, don't glot right now, do it later when you have the time, also thanks for the warning. As for you two I am sure you have questions, and I will try to answer them, but save 'em for later."

"You think they'll be back after that?" Dorothy asked, with a scared look in her eyes.

"Oh yeah, and like the Sand People, they will be back, and in greater numbers. So let's get out of here before that, so grab as of much of the stuff as they dropped as we can, put it in the back of the cart, and let's go finish our job. Alex, how far away is the barely now?"

"Few more hours walk." Alex replied, before shaking his head, and starting to help me grab the bikes and weapons the group had dropped, the others joining in after a few seconds. We were soon on our way again down the road towards our goal. While behind us the group of foragers sent out by the remnants of the government in Salem ran away.

I had been keeping track of Alex for Chuck, after the night he asked. I could tell he was getting closer over the next few days, and he finally arrived three days after I first looked for him, arriving with three others at the same time to the field we were working in that day, each with a wary, haunted looked in eyes from what they had seen on their way here, and heavy packs on their backs, along with a horse loaded down with brown paper bags that were full of barley. Turns out they had had to escape from a nest of Eaters near Lebanon after being captured by them, making their ways through the backroads towards Juniper's cabin, where Alex had guessed Chuck would be, finding a truck tipped on its side burying its load of barley undernight bags of manure. When they asked Juniper if they could join us, they almost broke into tears out of fear of rejection, breaking down into sobs when Juniper welcomed them with open arms.

People still had food, but there wasn't enough to go around, either going to waste before it was found, or people sticking around in areas that were already stripped bare, unfortunately there was still one type of prey left in these areas, prey that was slow and usually weak. So ordinary people decided to break one of the oldest human taboo's, hunting and killing each other, forming what amounted to packs. It was currently hoped that the groups would die out, as even humans became scarce, but I believed that they might be a longer term problem.

When we heard that they had bags of barley, Juniper and John Carson, owner of the field we were in fell into a discussion of how the barley would be planted, and the dividing of these new resources after they were grown. Juniper had the gift the gab it seems, making a series of deals with most of the remaining neighbouring farms in a complicated exchange of manpower, food, and resources such as tools. We were even keeping the Carsons herd of cattle up on our land to protect them, after over half the herd was "requisitioned" by foragers out of Salem. The farms that didn't accept the deals were closer to the town of Sutterdown, which had kept together through the Change mostly through the efforts of their community leaders, spearheaded by the reverend in charge of the presbyterian church there by the name of Dixon, a man I barely avoided breaking the jaw of the first time we met. He saw himself as the Hammer of God, and any that disagreed with him as nails, which unfortunately included Juniper, her Coven, the rest of our group, and me after I asked in range of his hearing how far up his ass the stick was. Juniper had been able to bring the discussion back under control, and I was reminded why I don't try diplomacy more often. According to Juniper this attitude was nothing new from the dear reverend, acting rude and spreading discontent to members of his parish long before the change, due to his view that Juniper and her coven were a group of devil worshippers; The Change had not helped matters, as he saw it as God's punishment for tolerating the wrong sort of people, which included Juniper. To his parish he was a good man, starting programs and raising donations to help those in need, but any that deviated were harshly judged and given the cold shoulder by the rest of the community.

The group to get the rest of the barley was soon decided between Juniper and Carson after much debating, and the asking for volunteers. It was narrowed down to Dorothy Rose, Jason Carson, and me, with Alex to guide us to where it was hidden a day away. There would be a fifth person going as well though, one that the others would know nothing about. Bonnie would be going with us, I needed her help with some experiments I would be attempting away from any prying eyes, even if they had no hostile intentions, and I wanted to spend a bit more time with one of my daughters, doing something we were both interested in. Maggie had wanted to go as well, after finding out Bonnie was going, but I was able to talk her out of it after I reminded her that she would be able to work on her sign language with Eilir, and meditation with Juniper, with no distractions from her little sister. Maggie eventually agreed, burying her face into Mouse's ruff, who had a look of doggy displeasure on his face, as we left in the morning making me feel a bit like a heel. It wasn't until we had already left that I realized that this would be Maggie's first night in this new world without her sister or me near by. After that I really did feel like a heel, but there wasn't anything I could do about at that point, so I just continued on, promising that I would make it up to her.

All of this led to me standing in the basement of the house we were in for the night, to avoid anyone that was in the area that we might have pissed off, with the horse and wagon hidden in the garage. A little ways off the road, it was determined it was empty and abandoned after a quick search through, netting us some spices, and a pots and pans. I ended up explaining magic to Alex and Jason, giving a few demonstrations to prove that I wasn't lying, or a trick in some way. That was one nice thing about the change I had noticed, people were for more readily to accept magic is real, after what had happened, and I expected that the number of people able to believe would increase, as the people that refused to accept the new world died away.

"Ready to give it a try?" I asked Bonnie, who's sanctum was hanging around my neck, as I stepped back and scanned the circle I had made on the floor with the chalk I kept in my pocket for emergencies. The basement was empty, and everyone else was stairs either keeping watch or soaking in what happened today.

"Aye aye, Captain." Bonnie's voice sounded out, with the eye's of her sanctum glowing green. "Can't wait to see what it looks like, but are you sure these is safe.?"

"Course I am, what do you take me for? This will just be a quick look around, and then back out, easy peasy."

"You don't want me answering that."

"At least we know you got my sense of humour."

"And mother's intelligence."

"Thats enough out of you young lady, no one like likes a smart alec."

"Then why do you never stop talking?"

"Back to business then," I said, to get the conversation back on track as Bonnie giggled. 'Am I forgetting anything?"

"No, you're good to go."

"Alrighty then, let's give it a go." Focusing on the space in front of me, I held out my staff and said " _Aparturum_ ", opening a hole between the normal world and the nevernever. It didn't seem like a smart idea to weaken the walls of really close to where I slept, so this was one the big reasons I had volunteered for this job. I tried to make the portal as clear as I could, so I could try and make sure that I wasn't walking into an ambush. The way ahead seemed clear from what I could make out, the portal making the view blurry, so I focused power through my shield bracelet to bring one up, before stepping through the portal. Nothing really seemed dangerous from what I could tell, I was in what appeared to be a copy of the basement I had just stepped out off,so using my pentacle necklace I brought some light into the nevernever. Nothing jumped out at me as I did so, so I allowed my shields to fall as I looked around, at what little I could see. "Ready to get to work?"

"Always." Bonnie replied, as tendrils of light appeared from the necklace, as my daughter stepped out into the nevernever. Here she was able to take physical form, as she used the matter of the Nevernever to build herself a body that looked almost the same as the first time I had seen her, yet a few years older."You'll remember where the portal was, right dad?"

"Course I will, not that old." Focusing behind me, I allowed the portal to close, so that nothing would escape into the real world. Focusing back on Bonnie, I allowed a smile to spread across my face. "Bonnie, before we get started, come here."

"Sure dad, but why? And why are you smiling?"

"Because I'm happy to see you." I said, before bending down and scooping Bonnie up into a massive hug, and kissed the top of her forehead, ruffling her hair.

"Dad, get off of me." Bonnie cried out, squirming to get out of my hug. "This is embarrassing."

"Just give me a minute." Finishing up, I set her back down, and as she tried to straighten her hair. "Come on, let's go."

Walking up the stairs from the basement, I looked around the house and noticed how empty it was. The house must have been old, for it to have a presence in the Nevernever, but I could tell it had been empty for awhile, probably even before the change. Walking through the open front door frame, Bonnie and I got our first real look of this worlds Nevernever, and right off the bat I could tell it was different. There were trees, grounds, the stars, and the moon, so physically it was the same, but it felt different and I couldn't quite put my finger on why. It wasn't until I stood still and listened that I figured out what it was. "It's quiet, too quiet."

"Yes, it is. It's empty." Bonnie said, looking around. "Be right back, I'm going go get a better look."

"Bonnie, wait-" Was all I got out before Bonnie shot into the air, and I soon lost sight of her in the night sky. I shouldn't really be worried for her, but I couldn't help but be worry as I waited for my daughter to come back. While she was gone I thought about what my daughter had said, and I realised she was right. Almost always when I was in the Nevernever back home, no matter how empty the landscape looked, I always felt as if something was nearby, aware of my existence. Here, I felt and heard nothing as the wind blew through the branches of the trees, while the moon shone overhead. "Hey dad, I need you to look at something."

"Ahhh," I cried out as I jumped into the air, spinning around to face Bonnie, who had a distracted look upon her face. "Don't do that, I'm too young to have have a heart attack." When that never even got a fact correction, let alone a giggle, out of Bonnie, I knew something was up. "What's wrong, honey?"

"I need you to see something. Can you follow me?" Bonnie face had a look that I would almost call fearful, when she turned and started to float into the air again.

I sighed to myself as I wondered what she wanted to show me from the air. If magic hadn't been easier in the Nevernever I wouldn't even consider it, but focusing and speaking out " _Surge sursus_ ," I rose smoothly into the air. It wasn't flying, more akin to levitation, but I eventually got to where Bonnie was glowing a sickly green colour, floating almost a hundred feet up. "What did you want to show me?"

"Look, out there." Bonnie said, pointing out into the darkness. I followed her finger, towards the horizon. Now that I was higher in the air, I could see that the horizon glowed with light tinged yellow, all around.

"What is it?"

"It's the light of civilization."

"Wait, what?"

"Shush, keep watching." Listening to my daughters fearful words, I stared out at the lights. As I watched it didn't take long to notice what Bonnie had, and when I realised what it meant, I felt a flash of fear, followed by anger. Anger at whoever had brought my family here and exposed them to this, anger at whoever had done this to the world, and even anger at humanity for not coming together as it should have in this time of need. In the distance, I watched as the lights of civilization dimmed, and some areas of the horizon went dark.

Our field trip to the Nevernever finished up after that, and it was a tired wizard that flopped down into my sleeping bag, and soon fell asleep, with dreams of massive flames that died down until only embers were left. Bonnie spent the night thinking about what we had learned, her undoubtedly learning more then me in that short time we were there. When the others saw the state I was in the next morning, I just waved them off and told them it was just bad dreams. We were soon on our way back towards Juniper's and the Carson's in silence, thinking about what we needed to do. Jason split off from the rest of us once we started getting closer to his brothers home, while we continued on our way back up the into the foothills, reaching the cabin in the late afternoon. Waiting outside for us was everyone, to help us get the barely put away, as well too tend to the horse. Walking towards Juniper, I bent down to pick up Maggie as she and Mouse ran towards me, while besides her Dorothy's kids did the same. "You been good, while I was gone?"

"Uh-huh," Maggie said, burying her face into my shoulder while Mouse danced around my feet. Looking up at Juniper, she was smiling but she had a sad look in her eyes, and I was going to ask her what had happened till I noticed the man besides her. The first thing I noticed was that he had a arm up in a sling, but besides that he was in very good shape, and he held himself like he knew how to fight, being of average height but broad shouldered with thick arms. He was brown haired with a square face, and he looked fairly fair skinned, but tanned like old leather and a few years older than me. Carrying Maggie I walked over to where the were, asking Juniper "So who's this then?"

"Harry, this is Sam; Sam, this is Harry." Juniper said, while stepping out of the way of the two us. He was giving me look similar to the one I had just given him, a quick look to see if I would be a threat. Stretching both our hands at the same time, we gave each other a firm handshake with a little bit of more strength than was needed. I seemed to pass what every test he was looking for, because we released each other's hand and he gave me a nod.

"Samual Alyward." He spoke with a english twang, but nothing like Steed's or the Merlins had been, more of a yokel burr that sounded like it should be asking for a pint of beer. "'Heard you was a wizard Harry, that right?"

"Harry Dresden, and that's right. Also private detective" I said after letting out a bit of a sigh.

"And you?"

"Former SAS, was in the area for a bit of hunting."

"Guessing you're english then?"

"What gave it away, the accent?"

"My fine tuned hearing was able to tell, yes."

"Hah." Sam let out a short bark of laughter, before falling silent again. I could already tell that he was a man of few words, as we stood there awkwardly for a few more secs, while everyone went their separate ways to do what needed doing, the silence being broken by him given a faint cough, and a small smirk in my direction. "So a fan of Potter then?"

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 **A/N: It's me, figured I should try to get out the latest chapter…**

 **Got any questions, ask, and if they don't spoil anything I will try to answer them.**

 **Review if you feel like it.**


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